COMPARISON OF EFFICACY AND TOLERABILITY OF FERROUS SULPHATE AND IRON POLYMALTOSE COMPLEX IN TREATMENT OF IRON DEFICIENCY ANEMIA IN CHILDREN AGE BETWEEN 6-12 YEARS

Abstract

Objective : Comparing iron polymaltose complex with ferrous sulphate in terms of the mean change in haemoglobin and the incidence of adverse effects during the course of therapy of iron deficiency anaemia (IDA) in children is the aim of this study. Method: This one-year randomised controlled experiment was conducted at the Outpatient Department of The Children's Hospital Lahore from March 2021 to March 2022. As per the operational criteria, the study comprised 106 patients who had iron deficiency anaemia. The patients were stratified into two groups, each consisting of 53 patients, by a balloting procedure. The research proforma included information on the medication's tolerability as well as any gastrointestinal side effects that occurred while the patient was receiving therapy. SPSS 25 was used for the data analysis. Results: The study population's mean age was 6.842± 3.541 years. There was an dominant male representation in the study population, with 62%(66/106) of the male population and 38%(40/106) of research participants being female. In both treatments groups, haemoglobin levels at months 1 and 3 of treatment significantly improved from baseline. After 3 months post-treatment, both treatment groups had an increase in hemoglobin of more than 2 g/dL. (FS: 2.9 ± 2.7g/dL:  IPC 2.03 ± 1.6 g/dL; both P = 0.01 from baseline values). After three months of therapy, there was a statistically significant increase in the serum iron level in both groups. After 3 month therapy,serum iron  in group A it was 71.3 ± 54.5 µg/dL and in group B it was 71.6 ± 31.8 µg/dL (p-value:0.01 ).  Serum ferritin levels also increased significantly, from 9.7 ± 6.5 mcg/dL to 31.3 ± 22.6 mcg/dL in  group A and from 6.8 ± 5.6 to 32.3 ± 22.3 mcg/dL in the  group B. Conclusion: the outcomes of this study show that IPC is equally as effective as ferrous sulphate when used as an oral iron supplementation therapy for paediatric patients with iron deficiency anaemia. However, IPC has fewer side effects than ferrous sulphate, which might enhance compliance and tolerance.