Intravenous Iron in Colorectal Cancer Surgery

Patients requiring elective colorectal cancer surgery have a high prevalence of anemia and iron deficiency. Intravenous iron therapy, with or without recombinant erythropoietin (EPO), may play an important role in the correction of perioperative anemia and facilitate preoperative autologous donation, thus reducing the risk of patient exposure to allogeneic red blood cell (RBC) transfusion and improving patient outcomes. In addition, the use of intravenous iron allows for a significant reduction in EPO dose requirements. However, large and well-conducted randomized controlled trials are needed to define more cost-effective intravenous iron and EPO regimens.