The Effect of Intravenous and Oral Iron Administration on Perioperative Anaemia and Transfusion Requirements in Patients Undergoing Elective Cardiac Surgery: A Randomized Clinical Trial

OBJECTIVES:

Anaemia is a frequent complication after cardiopulmonary bypass surgery. Iron therapy has been variably employed by medical centres over the years. In our study we test o test the clinical effectiveness of intravenous and oral iron supplementation in correcting anaemia, and its impact on blood transfusion requirements, in patients undergoing cardiopulmonary bypass surgery.

METHODS:

A double-blind, randomized, placebo-controlled clinical trial with three parallel groups of patients. Group I (n = 54): intravenous iron(III)-hydroxide sucrose complex, three doses of 100 mg/24 h during pre- and postoperative hospitalization and 1 pill/24 h of oral placebo in the same period and during 1 month after discharge. Group II (n = 53): oral ferrous fumarate iron 1 pill/24 h pre- and postoperatively and during 1 month after discharge, and intravenous placebo while hospitalized. Group III (n = 52): oral and intravenous placebo pre- and postoperatively, following the same protocol. Data were collected preoperatively, at theatre, at intensive care unit admission, before hospital discharge and 1 month later.

RESULTS:

(1) Baseline clinical and demographic characteristics and surgical procedures were similar in the three groups; (2) no inter-group differences were found in haemoglobin and haematocrit during the postoperative period; (3) the intravenous iron group showed higher serum ferritin levels at hospital discharge (1321 ± 495 ng/ml; P < 0.001) and 1 month later (610 ± 387; P < 0.001) compared with the other groups and (4) we did not observe statistical differences in blood transfusion requirements between the three groups.

CONCLUSIONS:

The use of intravenous or oral iron supplementation proved ineffective in correcting anaemia after cardiopulmonary bypass and did not reduce blood transfusion requirements.