Background: No consensus has been reached on capillary blood reference intervals for platelet parameters in full-term neonates. We aimed to establish neonatal capillary blood reference intervals for platelet parameters and evaluate influences of sex, gestational age and postnatal age on platelet parameters.Methods: This study was a prospective investigation and implemented in 594 healthy full-term neonates from 12 to 84 hours of age, using SYSMEX XN-9000 haematology automatic analyser by means of capillary blood. Reference intervals for platelet parameters were defined by an interval of 2.5th –97.5th percentiles.Results: Capillary reference interval for platelet count was (152 - 464) ×109/L. No significance was found between sex-divided reference intervals for platelet parameters. The values of platelet count changed minimally across gestational age (37-41 weeks) and postnatal age (12-84 hours). Reference intervals for other platelet parameters were affected by these factors to a different extent.Conclusions: We established capillary blood reference intervals for platelet parameters in the first days after birth of full-term neonates in China.

Background No consensus has been reached on reference intervals for platelet parameters in full-term neonates. We aimed to establish neonatal capillary blood reference intervals for platelet parameters and evaluate influences of gender, gestational age and postnatal age on platelet parameters. Methods This study was implemented in 594 healthy full-term neonates from 12 to 84 hours of age, using SYSMEX XN-9000 haematology automatic analyser by means of capillary blood. Reference intervals for platelet parameters were defined by an interval of 2.5th − 97.5th percentiles. Results Capillary reference interval for platelet count was (152–464) × 109/L. No significance was found between gender-divided reference intervals for platelet parameters. The values of platelet count changed significantly across gestational age and postnatal age. Reference intervals for other platelet parameters were affected by these factors to a different extent. Conclusions We established capillary blood reference intervals for platelet parameters in the early phases after birth of full-term neonates in China for the first time.