This study assessed the efficacy of intraoperative high-dose intravenous iron therapy in facilitating recovery from postoperative anemia and reducing the transfusion rate in patients with total knee and total hip arthroplasty. This prospective randomized controlled study involved 58 subjects. Group F received 1000 mg intravenous ferric carboxymaltose and Group C received normal saline. The changes in hemoglobin (Hb), hematocrit, iron metabolism variables, transfusion rates, and the arterial partial pressure of oxygen and the fraction of oxygen (PaO2/FiO2) ratio were recorded. There were 29 patients of each group. The change in Hb levels from baseline to 1 month post-surgery was higher in Group F than in Group C (0.3 ± 1.0 g/dl vs. -0.8 ± 0.8 g/dl, p < 0.001). Functional iron deficiency occurred more frequently in Group C (0% vs. 48.3%, p < 0.001) after the operation. The incidence of postoperative anemia, transfusion rate and P/F ratio did not significantly differ between the two groups. This study suggests that intraoperative high-dose ferric carboxymaltose during lower limb total arthroplasty can facilitate the recovery from postoperative anemia. Although it could not prevent the occurrence of postoperative anemia or the administration of transfusion, this treatment seemed to overcome surgery-related decrease of iron availability.
Keywords: anemia; ferric carboxymaltose; iron supplementation; total hip arthroplasty; total knee arthroplasty.