Efficacy Of Intravenous Therapy In Children With Iron Deficiency Anaemia Having Poor Response To Oral Iron Therapy

Objective: Iron deficiency is the most common nutritional deficiency worldwide. Common causes of iron deficiency anaemia (IDA) in children are excessive consumption of cow’s milk and prolonged breastfeeding with delayed and poor weaning. The objective of this study is to assess the effectiveness of intravenous iron in children with IDA, with poor compliance to oral iron therapy. This study aims to determine the mean levels of Hb after IV iron therapy in children with iron deficiency anaemia having a poor response to oral iron therapy. Subjects and Methods: It was a descriptive study. The study was conducted at the Department of Paediatric Medicine, Fatima Memorial Hospital, Lahore. A Total of 119 children fulfilling the selection criteria were enrolled in the study. The absolute dosage of iron was divided into 2 doses administered over two consecutive days. Each IV iron dose was diluted in 100 ml of normal saline in a micro-burette and infused over two hours. Patients were followed up at four weeks to check for haemoglobin levels. All the collected data were entered and analysed by using SPSS v25.0. Results: A total 119 patients with Iron deficiency anemia (IDA) were enrolled in this study. There were 61(51.3%) males and 58(48.7%) females. Age range in this study was from 6 months to 12 years with a mean age of 7.5±1.5 years. Mean duration of IDA was 8.5±2.3 months. Mean Hb level at baseline was 8.16±0.911 g/dl and 10.76±1.023 g/dl after 4 weeks of treatment and the difference was statistically significant with p-value of 0.001. Conclusion: Intravenous iron therapy is effective and safe to raise the haemoglobin levels in children with IDA who showed poor compliance to oral iron therapy.