Publication:

Study of effectiveness, tolerability and safety of intravenous iron sucrose in moderate anaemia in pregnancy

Background Iron deficiency is the most common cause of anaemia in pregnancy. The first choice in the treatment of iron deficiency anaemia for almost all patients is oral iron replacement because of its effectiveness, safety and low cost. Intravenous iron therapy is recommended during the second and third trimesters for women with moderate anaemia and those with noncompliance or intolerance to oral iron. This study aimed to assess the effectiveness, tolerability and safety of intravenous iron sucrose in moderate anaemia in pregnancy.

Methods A longitudinal prospective study was conducted at a tertiary care center. The pregnant women with moderate anaemia with gestational age between 28 weeks and 34 weeks were administered intravenous iron sucrose in precalculated doses and rise in haemoglobin and other indices were measured after 3 weeks.

Results Among 163 cases, baseline mean Hb level of 8.09±1.1 g/dl and serum ferritin level of 7.74±6.1 µg/l showed a statistically significant change to 12.07±1.4 g/dl and 89.12±62.43 µg/l respectively three weeks after treatment with intravenous iron sucrose. In addition, mean PCV, MCH and MCHC also improved significantly.

Conclusions Parental iron therapy is safe and effective in increasing haemoglobin, serum ferritin and other hematological parameters in pregnant women with moderate anaemia. It can be used as a treatment of choice in patients with intolerance or non- compliance to oral iron therapy. Intravenous iron sucrose injection is found to be safe and tolerable with good efficacy in the treatment of moderate anaemia.