High-dose parenteral iron does not seem to be associated with higher risk of infection , all-cause mortality , increased hospitalization or increased cardiovascular events on analysis of RCTs .
Observational studies show increased risk for all-cause mortality , infections and hospitalizations that were not statistically significant and were associated with significant heterogeneity
Parental iron is used to optimize hemoglobin and enhance erythropoiesis in end-stage renal disease along with erythropoietin-stimulating agents .
Safety of iron has been debated extensively and there is no definite evidence whether parenteral iron increases the risk of infections and mortality .
We performed this meta- analysis to evaluate the incidence of infectious complications , hospitalizations and mortality with use of parenteral iron .
Intravenous iron administration does not significantly increase the risk of bacteremia in chronic hemodialysis patients.
BACKGROUND Correction of iron deficiency is critical in chronic hemodialysis patients , and intravenous administration is superior to the oral route in this goal . Recently , concern was raised that intravenous iron administration might promote infection in dialysis patients . METHODS We review ed the data from a recent prospect i ve study of 985 patients in which no link between iron therapy and bacteremia had been found . We tested the potential role of the administration route of the iron ( intravenous vs. oral ) , the weekly amount of iron administered and the administration rate on the risk for bacteremia in these patients . RESULTS were 4-fold : in multivariate analysis , neither intravenous iron administration in the whole population nor the weekly amount of iron in the subgroup of i.v . iron-treated patients were significant risk factors for bacteremia ;  iron was not given more frequently intravenously in bacteremic than in non-bacteremic patients ; among patients treated with intravenous iron , the frequency and the amount of iron administered were significantly higher in those who developed bacteremia than in those who did not ; and in patients receiving i.v . iron , there was an increased risk of bacteremia associated with concurrent administration of erythropoietin , which was not observed in patients receiving iron orally . CONCLUSION This study failed to demonstrate a significant association between intravenous iron administration and the risk of bacteremia in dialysis patients . However , there might be a slightly increased risk of bacteremia in patients given high-frequency , high-dose intravenous iron
High-dose parenteral iron does not seem to be associated with higher risk of infection , all-cause mortality , increased hospitalization or increased cardiovascular events on analysis of RCTs .
Observational studies show increased risk for all-cause mortality , infections and hospitalizations that were not statistically significant and were associated with significant heterogeneity
Parental iron is used to optimize hemoglobin and enhance erythropoiesis in end-stage renal disease along with erythropoietin-stimulating agents .
Safety of iron has been debated extensively and there is no definite evidence whether parenteral iron increases the risk of infections and mortality .
We performed this meta- analysis to evaluate the incidence of infectious complications , hospitalizations and mortality with use of parenteral iron .