ORAL VERSUS PARENTERAL IRON THERAPY FOR CORRECTION OF IRON DEFICIENCY ANAEMIA IN PREGNANCY

Background: Iron deficiency anaemia is a common problem in antenatal patients throughout the developing world. This study was conducted to evaluate the efficacy of oral versus parenteral iron therapy for correction of anaemia in pregnant women. Methodology: This was a comparative study conducted in antenatal clinic of Saidu Teaching Hospital Swat. All pregnant women were tested for haemoglobin concentration and among them 100 patients with anaemia were consecutively selected. Selection criteria were haemoglobin level less than 11gm/dl and heamatocrit less than 33%. Selected patients were divided in two equal group, Group-I for oral and Group-II for intravenous administration of iron. The results of treatment were assessed on day 30 of the treatment. Results: Rise in haemoglobin concentration was observed from 9.35 +/- 1.62 to 11.20 +/- 0.28 gm/dl in oral group and from 9.20 +/- 1.69 to 12.65 +/- 1.06 gm/dl in intravenous group on day 30. Conclusion: Parenteral iron therapy in form of iron sucrose is better choice to correct iron deficiency anaemia related to pregnancy.