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Retinol (fat-soluble vitamin)

Vitamin A

Adult dose

Dose: Deficiency: 100,000 units IM single dose, then 50,000 units OD x2 weeks (severe). Maintenance: 5,000–10,000 units/day PO
Route: PO/IM
Frequency: per indication

Clinical pearls

  • Vitamin A deficiency, xerophthalmia
  • Avoid >10,000 units/day in pregnancy

Contraindications

  • Pregnancy (teratogenic at high dose)
  • Hypervitaminosis A
  • Hepatic impairment

Side effects

  • Hepatotoxicity
  • Hypercalcaemia
  • Pseudotumour cerebri
  • Bone changes
  • Teratogenicity

Interactions

  • Retinoids (avoid combination)
  • Tetracyclines (BIH)

Monitoring

  • Symptoms
  • LFTs

Reference: BNF; NICE; https://bnf.nice.org.uk/drugs/vitamin-a/. Verify against your local formulary and the latest BNF before prescribing.

Related

Curated clinical cross-links plus same-class fallbacks.

Pathways