ISSN: 0022-1198
CODEN: JFSCA
Published Online: 1 April 1975
Page Count: 8

Fatal Anaphylaxis After Intravenous Iron Dextran
Zipf, RE
Pathologist, Riverside Hospital Laboratories, Ohio

(Received 10 June 1974; accepted 6 August 1974)

Abstract

Iron dextran (Imferon^®) is a complex of ferric iron and dextran widely used for the treatment of iron deficiency anemia. It became commercially available in the United States in 1957. Since that time the intramuscular administration of iron dextran has been considered a relatively safe manner of administering iron to patients unable to tolerate oral iron therapy. However, untoward side effects have been reported. The most common of these are discomfort or staining of the skin at the injection site. The more disturbing reactions, however, appear to be allergic in nature and include lymphadenopathy, fever, urticaria, angioneurotic edema, arthralgias, and transient shocklike conditions [1–5]. Recently four cases of fatal anaphylaxis following intramuscular injection of iron dextran have been reported [6,7].

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Paper ID: JFS10279J
DOI: 10.1520/JFS10279J
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