Management of Mild Postpartum Anemia: Is Iron Administration Effective?

Abstract

Background This study aimed to investigate the efficacy of iron therapy in the treatment of mild postpartum anemia. Methods We conducted a case-control study involving women who underwent cesarean section at our hospital between 2015 and 2020. Following propensity score matching, participants were categorized into two groups based on whether or not they received iron therapy. These patients were evaluated for mean hemoglobin (Hb) levels on the seventh postoperative day (POD 7), the percentage of subjects achieving Hb greater than 10 g/dL on POD 7, and the incidence of adverse events. The efficacy of iron administration was evaluated using a superiority test, and receiver operating characteristic analyses were employed to generate area under the receiver operating characteristic curves (AUROC). Results The mean Hb level on POD 7 was 10.12 g/dL in the iron group and 9.89 g/dL in the iron-free group (P = 0.206). The superiority test revealed that the percentage of subjects achieving Hb levels greater than 10 g/dL on POD 7 was 56.1% in the iron group and 48.8% in the iron-free group (P = 0.880), indicating that the iron group did not demonstrate superiority over the iron-free group. The incidence of adverse events was significantly higher in the iron group (P = 0.027). The highest AUROC was observed with preoperative mean corpuscular Hb, measuring 0.632 (95% CI: 0.509-0.755), with a cutoff point of 28.5 pg. Conclusion Consideration should be given to the uniform administration of iron for the management of mild postpartum anemia.