EFFICACY COMPARISON OF COMBINED AND ORAL IRON THERAPY FOR IRON DEFICIENCY ANEMIA IN PREGNANT WOMEN

Iron deficiency anemia (IDA) remains one of the most relevant medical and social issues globally. The article aims to compare the effect of combined iron therapy and monotherapy via oral iron drugs on the pregnancy course, labor, and neonatal outcomes in women with IDA. Involving 149 pregnant women with the specified pathology, the authors carried out a prospective study. The examined were divided into 2 groups: the main group (n = 121) was treated using combined therapy (oral and parenteral iron medications); the control group (n = 28) received oral therapy only. The paper evaluates the groups’ peculiarities in the pregnancy course, labor outcomes, neonate medical condition, including cord blood ferritin and hemoglobin. The research reveals that combined therapy reduces the incidence of urinary tract infections (5.8% versus 21.4%, p < 0.05) and premature rupture of membranes (7.4% versus 21.4%, p < 0.05). In contrast, oral therapy increases the risk of postpartum hemorrhage (14.3% versus 5%, p = 0.093) with the subsequent need for blood transfusion (25.0% versus 3.3%, p < 0.001) and parenteral iron therapy for IDA (10.7% versus 1.7%, p = 0.046). The combined therapy efficacy is confirmed by the following laboratory values: a higher Hb level in the antepartum and postpartum period (p < 0.001). The absence of statistically notable differences in hemoglobin (159.4 versus 156.2 g/L, p = 0.394) and ferritin (104.3 versus 186.0 μg/L, p = 0.108) levels in umbilical cord blood between the studied groups indicates that combined therapy does not significantly improve neonatal iron status. Further studies evaluating long-term neurological outcomes are needed to determine the effect of iron therapy on postnatal development.

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