A Comparison of efficacy of I/V Iron V/S Oral Iron for management of iron deficiency anemia in pregnant women in a tertiary care center

Abstract

Introduction: WHO defines anemia in pregnant women as hemoglobin level <11gm/dL and a hematocrit of <0.33. The number of patients with iron deficiency anemia is>2 billion which accounts for 30% of the world’s population. The incidence of iron deficiency anemia in India is around 50%.

Material and Methods: A study was performed in the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Shri Ram Murti Smarak Institute of Medical Sciences, Bareilly, Uttar Pradesh, India on 100 antenatal patients with nutritional anemia gestational age of 14-36 weeks. Group A was treated with intravenous iron sucrose and group B was treated with oral iron sulfate. Pretreatment hemoglobin, S. ferritin levels, and General Blood Picture were recorded. During the course of treatment, any adverse reactions with either formulation, if occurred were recorded. Patients were followed up after 4 weeks with repeat hemoglobin and S. ferritin level.

Results: The mean improvement of hemoglobin among I/V and Oral iron following treatment was 1.68±0.33 gm/dl and 0.96± 0.31 gm/dl respectively which was statistically significant. The improvement in iron stores was also observed more in the I/V group with a rise of S. ferritin of 27.21±9.5 ng/ml against a rise of 3.72± 0.7 ng/ml in the oral group. This was statistically significant with a P-value of 0.000 in the I/V group. No major adverse reactions were seen in both groups.

Conclusion: Intravenous iron sucrose is safe and more effective than oral iron therapy in the treatment of iron deficiency anemia and to restore iron stores in pregnant women.