Table 1.

Study characteristics of the RCTs included in the meta-analysis.

Studies (first author, date of publication)	Clinical inclusion criteria	The presence and the degree of bleeding	Sample size	Intravenous iron dosage	Total intravenous dose of iron	Time of Hb, ferritin assessment after treatment initiation	Quality of life
Lee 2019[16]	Women with IDA due to menorrhagia (Hb < 10 g/dL, ferritin < 30 ng/mL)	Menorrhagia with heavy cyclical menstrual blood loss (>80 mL per cycle) over 3 cycles	FCM group, n = 52	FCM: body weight < 50 kg (500 mg iron), > 50 kg (1000 mg iron), single dose	FCM: 923.1 ± 207.3 mg (at single visit)	2 wk	Short Form-12 Health Survey (SF-12), no differences in outcomes between groups.
			IS group, n = 49	IS: Ganzoni formula. (200 mg/wk × 3 wk)	IS: 939.1 ± 352.3 mg (over 3–8 visits)
Jose 2019[17]	Pregnant women with IDA (Hb > 6.0 g/dL, < 10 g/dL)	No active bleeding	FCM group, n = 50	FCM: Ganzoni formula. (1000 mg single dose, repeated after days 7 and 14)	FCM: 1739.6 ± 105.5 mg (over 2 wk)	3, 6∗, 12 wk	Fatigue (LASA; Linear Analogue Scale Assessment), lower in the FCM group compared with the IS group (P = 0.0048).
			IS group, n = 50	IS: Ganzoni formula. (300 mg twice/wk)	IS: 1,730.4 ± 121.9 mg (over 3 wk)
Naqash 2018[18]	Obstetric (pregnancy, postpartum) and gynecologic (menorrhagia, uterus heavy bleeding, ovarian cyst) patients with IDA	Menorrhagia (bleeding for more than 7 d with heavy clots, and doubling of pads or tampons to manage menstrual flow), Uterus heavy bleeding (more than 12 d with doubling of pads or tampons to manage menstrual flow)	FCM group, n = 100	FCM: Ganzoni formula (1000 mg single dose)	FCM: no details provided.	2, 4∗ wk	Short Form 36 (SF-36), improved outcomes in the FCM group compared with the IS group (no comments for P value).
			IS group, n = 100	IS: Ganzoni formula (200 mg × 2–3 times)	IS: no details provided.
Sumathy 2017[19]	Postpartum women with IDA (Hb 8–10 g/dL)	Normal postpartum women at 24 h after delivery	FCM group, n = 50	FCM: modified Ganzoni formula (single dose)	FCM: 937.94 mg	2, 4∗ wk	No details provided
			IS group, n = 50	IS: modified Ganzoni formula (200 mg/d × 5 times)	IS: 935.53 mg
Mahey 2016[20]	Women older than 18 years with heavy menorrhagia and IDA (Hb 6.0–10.9 g/dL)	Menorrhagia with a pictorial bleeding assessment chart score higher than 100	FCM group, n = 30	FCM: modified Ganzoni formula (1000 mg single dose)	FCM: no details provided	1, 6∗, 12 wk	Fatigue (LASA; Linear Analogue Scale Assessment), improved outcomes in both groups without any statistical differences
			IS group, n = 30	IS: modified Ganzoni formula (300 mg twice weekly)	IS: no details provided
Joshi 2016[21]	Postpartum women with IDA (Hb ≤ 6.0 g/dL, ≥ 11 g/dL)	Postpartum women with significant vaginal bleeding in 24 h prior was excluded	FCM group, n = 90	FCM: 1000 mg single dose	FCM: 1000 mg	30 d	No details provided
			IS group, n = 83	IS: 200 mg × 5 times	IS: 1000 mg
Hol 2015[22]	Postpartum women with IDA (Hb, 7–11 g/dL)—moderate anemia group	Postpartum women suffering from acute blood loss was excluded	FCM group, n = 20	FCM: 500 mg × 2 times	FCM, 500 mg	1 d, 6∗ wk	No details provided
			IS group, n = 20	IS: 200 mg × 4 times	IS, 500 mg
Garg 2015[23]	Postpartum women with IDA (Hb < 7 g/dL)	All normal delivery and cesarean delivery patient	FCM group, n = 50	FCM: body weight (kg) × [target Hb (11 g/dL) – actual Hb (g/dL)] × 0.24 + storage iron (500 mg), single dose	FCM: no details provided	2, 4∗ wk	No details provided
			IS group, n = 50	IS: body weight (kg) × [target Hb (11 g/dL) —actual Hb (g/dL)] × 0.24 + storage iron (500 mg), 200 mg × 5 times	IS: no details provided
Rathod 2015[24]	Postpartum women with IDA (Hb < 10 g/dL)	No details about the bleeding	FCM group, n = 14	FCM: body weight (kg) × [target Hb (12 g/dL) —actual Hb (g/dL)] × 0.24 + storage iron (500 mg), single dose	FCM: no details provided	2, 6∗ wk	General Well-Being Scale, higher scores in the FCM group compared with the IS group
			IS group, n = 22	IS: body weight (kg) × [target Hb (11 g/dL) —actual Hb (g/dL)] × 0.24 + storage iron (500 mg), 200 mg × 5 times	IS: no details provided