Iron deficiency anaemia: A short review on diagnosis and management

Iron deficiency anaemia (IDA) is the most common form of anaemia worldwide. In men and postmenopausal women the commonest cause of IDA is blood loss from lesions in the gastrointestinal tract, making it a common cause of referral to gastroenterologists. Causes of IDA relate either to blood loss or iron alabsorption. After confirmation with laboratory tests, gastrointestinal evaluation is almost always indicated to exclude gastrointestinal malignancy.Treatment should involve prompt iron replacement plus diagnostic steps directed towards correcting the underlying cause of IDA. Oral iron replacement is cheap and effective, but intravenou) therapy may be required due to intolerance, oncompliance or treatment failure with oral therapy.