BACKGROUND: Iron deficiency is the most common disorder in the world, affecting approximately 25 percent of the world`s
population and the most common cause of
anemia .
OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the
efficacy and
safety of intravenous
iron sucrose (IS) in the
treatment of
adults with
iron deficiency anemia METHODS: Eighty-six
adult patients with
iron deficiency anemia ,
who had intolerance or showed no effect with oral
iron therapy , received a weekly
dose of 200 mg of intravenous
iron sucrose until the
hemoglobin level was corrected or until receiving the total
dose of intravenous
iron calculated for each
patient RESULTS: The mean
hemoglobin and
serum ferritin levels were 8.54 g/dL and 7.63 ng/mL (pre-
treatment ) and 12.1 g/dL and 99.0 ng/mL (post-
treatment ) (p-value < 0.0001), respectively. The average increases in
hemoglobin levels were 3.29 g/dL for
women and 4.58 g/dL for
men ; 94 percent of
male and 84 percent of
female patients responded (
hemoglobin increased by at least 2 g/dL) to intravenous
iron therapy . Correction of
anemia was obtained in 47 of 69 (68.1 percent)
female patients and in 12 of 17
male (70.6 percent)
patients . A total of 515
intravenous infusions of
iron sucrose were administered and
iron sucrose was generally well tolerated with no moderate or serious
adverse drug reactions recorded by the
investigators .
CONCLUSIONS: Our data confirm that the use of intravenous
iron sucrose is a safe and effective option in the
treatment of
adult patients with
iron deficiency anemia who lack satisfactory response to oral
iron therapy . Intravenous
iron sucrose is well tolerated and with a clinically manageable
safety profile when using appropriate dosing and
monitoring . The availability of intravenous
iron sucrose would potentially improve
compliance and thereby reduce
morbidities from
iron deficiency .