A comparative study of intravenous iron versus oral iron supplementation for postpartum anemia

Abstract

Objective The aim of our study was to compare the safety, tolerability, and effectiveness of treatment with either intravenous (i.v.) ferrous sucrose or oral ferrous sulfate on postpartum iron deficiency anemia. Background Iron deficiency anemia is very common in women postpartum and oral ferrous sulfate has been considered the standard of care. However, parenteral iron treatment is expected to be advantageous in cases where oral iron is not possible due to poor compliance or gastrointestinal side effects. Patients and methods The patients of the study (100 patients) were randomly divided into two groups (50 patients/group) using a computer-generated randomization schedule. The first group consisted of 50 women (i.v. group) who received iron by the i.v. route and the second group consisted of 50 women (oral group) who received iron by the oral route, two capsules daily 150 mg twice daily for 6 weeks. The serum ferritin level, hemoglobin (Hb) level, and red blood cell indices hematocrit, mean corpuscle volume, and mean corpuscular Hb concentration data were collected at home 0, 5, 14, 40 days after treatment. Results The current study showed that i.v. ferrous sucrose significantly increases the mean level of Hb from 7.9 mg/dl at pretreatment to 11.5 mg/dl at 40 days after treatment, whereas oral ferrous sulfate increases the mean level of Hb from 7.8 mg/dl pretreatment to 11.2 mg/dl; these results showed that i.v. iron is more effective than oral iron regarding the increase of Hb level. Conclusion The present study concluded that i.v. ferrous sucrose increases the Hb level more rapidly than oral ferrous sulfate in women with postpartum iron deficiency anemia; it also appears to replenish iron stores more rapidly without any significant side effects.