TYK345

You are on a medical mission providing obstetric anesthesia in a developing country. The nursery calls you to help evaluate a neonate with excessive bleeding from his umbilicus 4 days after birth. Of further examination, you note that the child also has evidence of nosebleeds. Which of the following is the most likely diagnosis?

a) Medication error

b) Hemophilia A

c) Hemophilia B

d) Sickle cell disease

e) Vitamin K deficiency

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Answer

Answer e. Vitamin K deficiency in newborns is common due to the poor transfer of vitamin K across the placenta and the low availability of vitamin K in breast milk. While this problem has been largely eliminated in developing countries, in developing countries vitamin K administration at birth may not occur, leading to symptomatic vitamin K deficiency.

Notes

This question originally printed in the Pediatric Anesthesiology Review Topics kindle book series, and appears courtesy of Naerthwyn Press, LLC.

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