Assessment of daily iron doses administered to patients with chronic blood loss.

In chronically bleeding patients the hemoglobin concentration in blood (Hb) increases after iron therapy. The iron dose necessary for the maintenance of Hb is proportional to blood loss. A simple method for determining blood loss in chronically bleeding patients is introduced. The amount of iron necessary for an increase of Hb is needed for determination of the daily blood loss. A good correlation between calculated and required iron dosage was found for 14 out of 16 chronically bleeding patients. The calculated dose determined for one patient was below the required value; for the other patient only a slight difference was noted.