Frequency of vitamin K deficiency in neonates presenting with abnormal bleeding to the neonatal unit of a tertiary care hospital

Background: the term vitamin k originated from koagulations vitamin in german1.vitamin k is a fat soluble vitamin that is absorbed from gastrointestinal tract in the presence of bile salts. vitamin k is required for the synthesis of coagulation factors,ii,vii,ix,x by liver2. because of the short half life of these factors,and the small amounts of vitamin k stored in the body,the inadequate intake of vitamin k can result in its deficiency in a short period of time. in the past,all bleeding disorders in the newborn were grouped together,under the diagnosis of hemorrhagic disease of the newborn (hdn). aim: to determine the frequency of vitamin k deficiency in neonates presenting with abnormal bleeding to the neonatal unit of a tertiary care hospital. results: while studying the distribution of cases by age it was found that 45(12%) were between 124 hrs of age,185(49.3%) were found between 27 days of age and 145(38.6%) were found to be between 12 weeks of age,237(63.2%) were found to be male and 36.8% were found to be female. according to the geographical areas (urban and rural) was discussed. amongst the total of the 375 cases 168(44.8%) came from the urban areas and 207(55.2%) came from rural areas. the frequency of the deranged clotting profiles of the cases,369(98.4%) of the patients had a deranged coagulation profile and 6(0.01%) had a normal clotting profile. the frequency of the deranged platelet count in neonates presenting with bleeding 362(96.5%) had a normal platelet count and 13(0.03%) had a deranged platelet count. 352(93.8%) had vitamin k deficiency bleeding and 23(0.06%) had bleeding disorders other than vitamin k deficiency bleeding. conclusion: vitamin k deficiency bleeding is a very important cause of bleeding in the first month of life. it is more common in the male gender and in the rural population. vitamin k deficiency bleeding is a preventable cause of bleeding,hence vitamin k prophylaxis should be made mandatory at birth for all newborn babies.