Iron replacement and supplementation in patients with chronic kidney disease

Interest in optimizing iron management in the treatment of anemia of CKD is growing due to concerns that high doses of ESAs may have deleterious effects and the high cost of ESAs in comparison to iron therapy. International guidelines have defined iron targets for this patient population, but there are some unanswered questions with respect to long-term use of iron, such as the maximum TSAT or ferritin concentration and concerns with oxidative stress. Large head-to-head safety studies of the different i.v. iron preparations have not been performed to date and current safety data rely on small studies and spontaneous adverse event reporting. Interprofessional management of anemia, including iron therapy, has shown beneficial effects and should be encouraged.