Introduction: Anemia is a decrease in hemoglobin and red blood cells that decreases oxygen-carrying capacity. There are different types of anemia, the most common of which is iron deficiency anemia. Anemia is common in patients undergoing surgery, especially cardiac surgery. Therefore, the goal of this research was to evaluation of the response to treatment in iron deficiency anemia after CABG surgery. Materials and Methods: This study was performed on patients with CABG surgery at the Rajaie Cardiovascular Medical and Research Center, Tehran, Iran. The data collection tool was a questionnaire. For patients who were anemic (Hb<11gr/dl) at discharge from the ICU, standard oral treatment with ferrous sulfate was started three times daily. To evaluate the response to treatment, hematological tests were followed at discharge from the ICU, one week, three weeks and three months after treatment. Data analysis was carried-out by Chi-square, Mann-Whitney test, and ANOVA test. Results: 380 patients underwent on CABG surgery, of which 110 had iron deficiency anemia at discharge from ICU. Of these 110 patients, 32 could not be followed up due to the Covid 19 pandemic, Forty-eight patients responded to standard oral iron therapy, and 30 did not respond adequately to various causes. Hemoglobin, hematocrit, ferritin, Iron, transferin saturation (TS) and reticulocyte levels in patients who responded appropriately to treatment increased significantly during treatment. Conclusion: Although the standard treatment for iron deficiency anemia is oral iron, but there are several factors such as a pandemic, gastrointestinal complications, long duration of treatment, and cultural problems which make the effectiveness of oral treatment questionable, thus intravenous iron should be considered in certain conditions.
Keywords: Iron deficiency anemia, Treatment, CABG surgery