Intravenous Iron in Cardiac Surgery

In patients presenting for elective cardiac surgery, preoperative anemia is associated with increased risk of postoperative transfusion, morbidity, and mortality. Intravenous iron therapy, with or without erythropoietin (EPO), may play an important role in the correction of preoperative anemia, as well as in facilitating autologous blood donation, thus reducing the risk of patient exposure to allogeneic blood transfusions. In addition, postoperative intravenous iron may act by treating decreased iron availability, thus increasing the action of both endogenous and exogenous EPO and improving the quality of postoperative recovery. As a short-term therapy, intravenous iron does not put the patient at risk for long-term iatrogenic effects.