Effectiveness and Safety of Intravenous Iron Sucrose Therapy in Moderately Anaemic Pregnant Women in Third Trimester

Background- Anaemia is the commonest medical disorder encountered during pregnancy and is an important cause of maternal mortality and morbidity. According to WHO the prevalence of iron deficiency anaemia is about 18 % in developed countries and 35-75 per cent (average 56 %) in developing countries. Many pregnant ladies in developing countries have low iron stores and their baseline Hb is low before pregnancy. As such oral iron supplements fail to raise the Hb and also compliance and absorption is low because of various factors. Aims and Objectives 1. Estimation of Hb and serum ferritin levels in anaemic pregnant women in third trimester.2. Evaluate the response to intravenous iron sucrose in such ladies. Methods and materials 100 anaemic pregnant women with Hb level between 7-9.9g/dl and gestational age between 32-35 weeks and S. ferritin level less than 12 ng/ml are given injection iron sucrose after calculating the iron deficit. Hb and serum ferritin rise were noted after 4 weeks. Patients were also observed for any adverse effects and demographic factors affecting anaemia were also noted. Results The mean rise of Hb after treatment with intravenous iron sucrose was from 8.00.59 to 10.90.73g/dl which is statistically significant (pless than0.0001). The serum ferritin level increased from a mean of 8.61.6 to 31.97.7ng/ml which was found to be statistically significant (less than0.0001). Minor adverse effects were noted in 7 % of cases. Target haemoglobin of 11g/dl was achieved by 68 % patients. Conclusion Intravenous iron can be effectively and safely used among anaemic pregnant women. It caused significant rise in Hb and iron stores, which is depicted by improvement of serum ferritin level within a short time which helps to cope up easily with excessive bleeding during delivery. Hence, it may help to reduce the need for blood transfusion and the associated risks.