Effect of intravenous iron on functional outcomes in hip fracture: a randomised controlled trial

Objectives: to determine the safety and effect of intravenous iron sucrose on functional outcomes, delirium, nosocomial infections and transfusion requirements in older patients with hip fracture. Design: single-centre randomised, double-blind, placebo-controlled clinical trial. Setting and participants: orthogeriatric share care service at an academic tertiary care hospital. A total of 253 patients were recruited: 126 patients were assigned to intravenous iron and 127 to placebo. Methods: on days 1, 3 and 5 after admission, the iron group received 200 mg Venofer (R) (iron sucrose) in 100 ml saline and the placebo group 100 ml saline. The primary outcome was absolute functional gain, considered as Barthel index (BI) at discharge minus BI on admission. Secondary outcomes included incidence of postoperative delirium according to the confusion assessment method, proportion of patients recovering prior functional status at 3 months, postoperative transfusion requirements, haemoglobin at 3 months, incidence of nosocomial infections and safety. Results: the median participant age was 87 (interquartile range, 82.5-91.5) years. Most patients were female (72.7%), and the median previous BI was 81(59-95). No significant effect of intravenous iron was observed for the primary outcome: the median AFG score was 17.1 points (4.8-23.3) in the intravenous iron group and 16 points (6-26) in the placebo group (P= 0.369). No significant treatment effects were observed for other functional outcomes or secondary end points. Conclusion: while we found no impact of intravenous iron sucrose on functional recovery, incidence of postoperative delirium, transfusion requirements, haemoglobin at 3 months, mortality and nosocomial infections rates in older patients with hip fracture, we did find that the intervention was safe.