Iron Deficiency Anemia: Diagnosis, Signs, and Effective Treatment
Question. Discuss management of iron Defiiency Anemia.
Answer.
Iron Defiiency Anemia Management
- Proper physical and mental rest.
- Good nourishing diet with supplementation of foods rich in iron.
- Oral iron therapy: Ferrous sulphate 200 mg TID is given in between the meals. If after taking the drug, there is any abdominal pain, nausea, vomiting or constipation, the salt is changed to ferrous gluconate or ferrous fumarate. Oral iron therapy should be given for 6 months.
- Parenteral iron therapy: Iron sorbitol ciric acid complex 1.5 mg/kg body weight is given as IM or Iron dextran in 5% glucose is given as IV
Iron Deficiency Anemia: Diagnosis, Signs, and Effective Treatment
Iron Defiiency Anemia Diagnosis
It is based on the clinical signs and symptoms and investigations
Iron Defiiency Anemia Clinical Signs And Symptoms
Symptoms
- Tiredness
- Weakness
- Lethargy
- Loss of appetite headache and bodyache
- Inability to concentrate
- Giddiness
- Breathlessness
- Epigastric discomfort.
Iron Defiiency Anemia Signs
- Pallor
- Palpitation
- Angular stomatitis
- Atrophic gastritis
- Flattning or spoon-shaped nails, i.e. platonychia and koilonychia
- Tongue is pale and smooth
- Glossitis
- Hepatosplenomegaly
- PlummerVinson syndrome, i.e. dysphagia and cricoid webs.
Diagnosis of Iron Deficiency Anemia
Iron Defiiency Anemia Investigations
Blood picture and red cell indices
- Hemoglobin: Fall on hemoglobin concentration.
- Red cells: The RBCs in blood fim are hypochromatic
and microcytic and there is anisocytosis, poikilocytosis and elliptocytosis - Reticulocyte count: Normal or reduced.
- Absolute values: MCV, MCH and MCHC are decreased.
- Leukocytes: Usually normal
- Platelets: Usually normal but raised if bleeding is cause of anemia
- ESR: value of ESR is low
Bone marrow fidings:
- Marrow cellularity: The marrow cellularity is increased due to erythroid hyperplasia.
- Erythropoiesis: Normoblastic erythropoiesis.
- Marrow iron is defiient.
Biochemical fidings:
- Serum iron level is low.
- Total iron binding capacity is high.
- Serum ferritin is very low.
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