A Propensity-Matched Cohort Study of Intravenous Iron versus Red Cell Transfusions for Preoperative Iron-Deficiency Anemia

While preoperative anemia is associated with adverse perioperative outcomes, the benefits of treatment with iron replacement versus red blood cell (RBC) transfusion remain uncertain. We used a national database to establish trends in preoperative iron-deficiency anemia (IDA) treatment and to test the hypothesis that treatment with preoperative iron may be superior to RBC transfusion.