Vitamin K deficiency and hemorrhage in infancy

Hemorrhage in the infant from vitamin K deficiency is still a concern in pediatrics. Vitamin K given intramuscularly will largely prevent hemorrhagic disease in the newborn, even in infants who are exclusively breast-fed and are thus at the greatest risk for bleeding. The vitamin K content of human milk is very low compared with standard infant formulas. Results with oral vitamin K prophylaxis, currently used in some countries following the association found in a single report between childhood cancer and intramuscular vitamin K, are far more controversial. Any role of vitamin K in the prevention of IVH in premature infants has not been sufficiently demonstrated. Ongoing developments in this field will lead to improved methods of detecting early vitamin K deficiency and perhaps suitable alternatives to intramuscular vitamin K prophylaxis in the newborn.