However , in patients with IBD flares and inadequate responses to or side effects with oral preparations , intravenous iron supplementation is the therapy of choice .
Neither oral nor intravenous therapy seems to exacerbate the clinical course of IBD , and intravenous iron therapy can be administered even in active disease stages and concomitantly with biologics .
Based on the data presented , oral iron therapy should be preferred for patients with quiescent disease stages and trivial iron deficiency  anemia unless such patients are intolerant or have an inadequate response , whereas intravenous iron supplementation may be of advantage in patients with aggravated anemia or flares of IBD because inflammation hampers intestinal absorption of iron
Abstract Anemia is the most frequent complication of inflammatory bowel disease ( IBD ) , but anemia , mostly due to iron deficiency , has long been neglected in these patients .
The aim was to briefly present the pathophysiology , followed by a balanced overview of the different forms of iron replacement available , and subsequently , to perform a systematic review of studies performed in the last decade on the treatment of iron-deficiency anemia in IBD .
Transfusion strategies for acute upper gastrointestinal bleeding.
BACKGROUND The hemoglobin threshold for transfusion of red cells in patients with acute gastrointestinal bleeding is controversial . We compared the efficacy and safety of a restrictive transfusion strategy with those of a liberal transfusion strategy . METHODS We enrolled 921 patients with severe acute upper gastrointestinal bleeding and r and omly assigned 461 of them to a restrictive strategy ( transfusion when the hemoglobin level fell below 7 g per deciliter ) and 460 to a liberal strategy ( transfusion when the hemoglobin fell below 9 g per deciliter ) . R and omization was stratified according to the presence or absence of liver cirrhosis . RESULTS A total of 225 patients assigned to the restrictive strategy ( 51 % ) , as compared with 61 assigned to the liberal strategy ( 14 % ) , did not receive transfusions ( P<0.001 ) [corrected].The probability of survival at 6 weeks was higher in the restrictive- strategy group than in the liberal- strategy group ( 95 % vs. 91 % ; hazard ratio for death with restrictive strategy , 0.55 ; 95 % confidence interval [ CI ] , 0.33 to 0.92 ; P=0.02 ) . Further bleeding occurred in 10 % of the patients in the restrictive- strategy group as compared with 16 % of the patients in the liberal- strategy group ( P=0.01 ) , and adverse events occurred in 40 % as compared with 48 % ( P=0.02 ) . The probability of survival was slightly higher with the restrictive strategy than with the liberal strategy in the subgroup of patients who had bleeding associated with a peptic ulcer ( hazard ratio , 0.70 ; 95 % CI , 0.26 to 1.25 ) and was significantly higher in the subgroup of patients with cirrhosis and Child-Pugh class A or B disease ( hazard ratio , 0.30 ; 95 % CI , 0.11 to 0.85 ) , but not in those with cirrhosis and Child-Pugh class C disease ( hazard ratio , 1.04 ; 95 % CI , 0.45 to 2.37 ) . Within the first 5 days , the portal-pressure gradient increased significantly in patients assigned to the liberal strategy ( P=0.03 ) but not in those assigned to the restrictive strategy . CONCLUSIONS As compared with a liberal transfusion strategy , a restrictive strategy significantly improved outcomes in patients with acute upper gastrointestinal bleeding . ( Funded by Fundació Investigació Sant Pau ; Clinical Trials.gov number , NCT00414713 . )
However , in patients with IBD flares and inadequate responses to or side effects with oral preparations , intravenous iron supplementation is the therapy of choice .
Neither oral nor intravenous therapy seems to exacerbate the clinical course of IBD , and intravenous iron therapy can be administered even in active disease stages and concomitantly with biologics .
Based on the data presented , oral iron therapy should be preferred for patients with quiescent disease stages and trivial iron deficiency  anemia unless such patients are intolerant or have an inadequate response , whereas intravenous iron supplementation may be of advantage in patients with aggravated anemia or flares of IBD because inflammation hampers intestinal absorption of iron
Abstract Anemia is the most frequent complication of inflammatory bowel disease ( IBD ) , but anemia , mostly due to iron deficiency , has long been neglected in these patients .
The aim was to briefly present the pathophysiology , followed by a balanced overview of the different forms of iron replacement available , and subsequently , to perform a systematic review of studies performed in the last decade on the treatment of iron-deficiency anemia in IBD .