Incidence of thrombocytopenia following phototherapy in hyperbilirubinemic neonates in Ardabil City

Background: Jaundice is one of the most common problems in neonatal period. In 60% of term and 80% of preterm neonates are seen during the first week of birth and most cases are physiologic. Hyperbilirubinemia is the most common cause of jaundice in newborns. Phototherapy is used to treat it, which seems to be safe. Some studies showed that thrombocytopenia is one of the side effects of phototherapy. The aim of this study was to investigate the relationship between thrombocytopenia and phototherapy in newborns. Methods: This is a descriptive study that has been done on 100 neonates with jaundice which requiring phototherapy. A blood sample was taken at the admission time, 24 hours late, end of the phototherapy and 48 hours after the end of phototherapy to measure the bilirubin and the number of platelets along with other necessary tests for the study of hyperbilirubinemia. Data collected by a checklist and analyzed by statistical methods in SPSS version 19. Results: Of all neonates, 55% were boy and 45% were girl with mean age of 8.86 days. The mean platelet count before phototherapy, 24 hours late, at the end of phototherapy, and 48 hours after phototherapy were 298170, 288540, 282620 and 266310, respectively which was statistically significant during time. Conclusions: The results of this study showed that phototherapy can lead to a significant reduction in platelet count in newborns. Also, there wasn’t seen any case of thrombocytopenia following phototherapy in the present study