Abstract

Background: Anemia is one of the major public health problems in the developing countries. More than 70% of pregnant women in Southeast Asian region have nutritional anemia, which affects both the mother and the newborn and subsequent child and later adult.

Objective: To evaluate the response and effect of parenteral iron sucrose complex therapy in iron-deficiency anemia in pregnancy.

Material and Methods: A prospective observational study was conducted at VS General Hospital, Ahmedabad, Gujarat, India, from September 2009 to November 2011. A total of 75 Antenatal women, between 26 and 32 weeks of pregnancy with hemoglobin level between 5–9 g%, were selected for study by purposive sampling. They were given intravenous iron sucrose complex in a dose of 200 mg (2 ampoules of 5 ml each) in 100 mL normal saline for 15–20 minutes, on alternate day. Repeat complete blood count was done after 6 weeks.

Results: Of 75 women, 36 (48%) were in age group of 20–24 years and 49 (65.2%) were 27–29 weeks pregnant. The mean hemoglobin level increased from 7.8 ± 0.61 to 10.1 ± 0.73 g% (p

Key words: Anemia, iron deficiency, iron sucrose complex, parenteral iron therapy, MCV