Iron Boost Pre-Surgery Cuts Risks, Aids Recovery
A clinical trial published in The BMJ indicates that intravenous iron administered to anaemic patients before cardiac surgery reduces the need for blood transfusions. While it did not significantly change hospital stay duration or major complication rates, it resulted in patients spending one extra day at home during the 90-day post-surgery period.
Why it matters
Reducing blood transfusions in cardiac surgery can lower the risk of post-operative complications and alleviate pressure on blood supply chains.
Giving intravenous iron to patients with anaemia before heart surgery reduces the need for a red blood transfusion and results in an extra day at home in the first 90 days after surgery, finds a clinical trial published by The BMJ today.
Intravenous iron also saved approximately 44 units of blood products for every 100 patients treated.
A third of patients undergoing cardiac surgery are anaemic and 20-50% receive a blood transfusion after surgery, which is linked to increased risks of complications, longer hospital stays, and death after surgery.
Previous studies suggest that intravenous iron before surgery boosts haemoglobin levels (the protein in red blood cells that carries oxygen around the body) and may reduce the need for transfusion, but there is currently no evidence to show that this improves outcomes that matter to patients.
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