A retrospective multicenter study was performed. Patientswho had been administered parenteral iron were matched to the controls with oral iron at a 11 ratio according to age, sex, and type of IBD.
RESULTS:
Patients that received parenteral iron exhibited increases in hemoglobin levels of ≥20% from the baseline at lower doses and in shorter durations (p=0.034 and p=0.046, respectively). In the multivariate analysis, parenteral irontherapy appeared to be more efficient than oral irontherapy, but this difference was not statistically significant (hazard ratio [HR], 1.552; 95% confidence interval [CI], 0.844 to 2.851; p=0.157). Patients with ulcerative colitis responded better to irontherapy than those with Crohn's disease (HR, 3.415; 95% CI, 1.808 to 6.450; p<0.001). Patients with an initial hemoglobin level of 10 g/dL or higher responded poorly to irontherapy (HR, 0.345; 95% CI, 0.177 to 0.671; p=0.002).