Intravenous iron in clinical concentrations does not impair haemoglobin measurement

BackgroundIntravenous iron is commonly administered to anaemic patients to treat iron deficiency, but due to its ferric colouration, it may interfere with the spectrophotometric assessment of haemoglobin concentrations. This paper investigates the potential interference of three clinically used intravenous iron preparations on the measurement of haemoglobin.MethodsHaemoglobin concentration was measured for neat and Hartmann’s solution-diluted iron polymaltose, carboxymaltose and sucrose solutions using bedside (Radiometer HemoCue®), point-of-care (Radiometer ABL800 Flex) and laboratory (Abbott CellDyne Sapphire™) devices. Haemoglobin concentration was then assessed with the same devices utilizing anaemic whole blood with the iron solutions added.ResultsNeat iron preparations registered clinically significant haemoglobin concentrations on bedside and laboratory measurements. When intravenous iron preparations were diluted to clinical concentrations, their effect on haemoglobin measurements, either in isola...