Administration of vitamin K to newborn infants and childhood cancer

Ekelund H, Finnstrom O

1993

All maternity hospitals in Sweden

The authors studied 1,384,424 full term infants born after non-instrumental deliveries, 1,085,654 of whom were born in units where vitamin K was routinely given via intramuscular injection and 272,080 of whom were born where it was given orally. The risk of cancer after intramuscular administration of vitamin K was not elevated compared with that after oral administration. (All childhood cancers and childhood leukaemia).

Such data do not confirm the findings of the first British studies (0158 and 0159). We'll notice that the way vitamin K was administered to newborn babies was according to the policy of the hospital rather than the choice of the parents. It seemed that parents did not participate in the choice. This might be the main difference with British studies. See discussion for 0159.