What Is Vitamin K Therapy?

There are four main types of vitamin K therapy. Medical patients could be advised to take vitamin K orally in pill or liquid form, though intramuscular injections or as a topical cream. The specific mode of therapy, as well as the type of vitamin K used in therapy, depends on which ailment is being addressed. Individuals also might partake in vitamin K therapy that utilizes specific dietary foods.

A naturally occurring subtype, vitamin K1 has coagulant properties and is found in topical treatment creams. Topical vitamin K therapy creams are used to help patients recover from heavy bruising, surgery or broken capillaries. The cream accomplishes this by clotting any additional blood seepage into the surrounding tissues at the wound site.

Vitamin K1 also has been well researched for its ability to alleviate possible hemorrhaging, as an antidote to anticoagulation medication and for its use in treating specific illnesses in which the blood has a decreased ability to clot on its own. Newborns can be given intramuscular vitamin K therapy injections to prime their system against hemorrhage. Patients who have bleeding disorders or illnesses concerning the blood could add vitamin K1 to their diet through dark leafy green vegetables, such as spinach and kale, or by ingesting the pill form of the vitamin. People who might have any overexposure to anticoagulant drugs could receive vitamin K therapy to help alleviate the chance of hemorrhage because of injury or surgery.

The other subtype of vitamin K that is naturally derived is vitamin K2. Vitamin K2 is used in therapies administered in pill form that could assist a patient who has had bone density loss and in recovery from a bone fracture. This form of vitamin K also has been used as a defense against specific types of cancers. Patients who want to ingest vitamin K2 in their diets could eat more fish and red meat because vitamin K2 can be found in the fatty omega-3 and omega-6 compounds of the meat. Acidophilus could be taken orally to restore vitamin K-producing flora in the intestinal tract that might have been destroyed by antibiotics or intestinal illness.

Synthetic forms of vitamin K therapies — those using vitamins K3, K4 and K5 — also are available. Vitamin K3 has been used as a coagulation agent in a similar manner to K1. Therapy using vitamin K3 has been demonstrated to reach high levels of toxicity, however, so it has been restricted from over-the-counter sales in many places. Vitamin K therapy that utilizes naturally occurring forms of vitamin K1 and K2 do not demonstrate high levels of toxicity. All vitamin therapies should be discussed with a doctor for need and possible drug interactions before being implemented by the patient.