Comparison between intravenous iron and oral iron therapy in cases of postpartum anemia

Aim: to compare the efficacy of intravenous iron and oral iron therapy in postpartum anemia. methods: a total of 82 patients with postpartum anemia,20 to 35 years of age were included in the study. patients with any chronic disease,thalassemia,folic acid deficiency and intolerance to iron were excluded. then selected patients were placed randomly into two groups i.e.,group a (intravenous iron) & group b (oral iron). all patients were followed till 6 weeks and efficacy (deemed as yes if there was rise in hemoglobin levels >3.5g/dl after 6 weeks of therapy) was noted results: the mean age of women in group a was 26.36±4.30 year and in group b was 26.31±4.69 years with majority of the patients 41(50%) were between 20 to 25 years of age. there was rise in hemoglobin levels >3.5g/dl after 6 weeks of therapy in 36 patients in intravenous iron while in oral iron,it was seen in 27 patients. so,efficacy was 87.80% in group a (intravenous iron) and 65.85% in group b (oral iron) with p-value of 0.018. conclusion: this study concludedthat intravenous iron therapy is associated with higher efficacy (in terms of increase in hemoglobin) as compared to oral iron therapy in treating postpartum anemia.