What is the Difference Between Blood Transfusion and Iron Infusion

The key difference between blood transfusion and iron infusion is that blood transfusion is the delivery of blood or blood products intravenously to the body, which increases the level of hemoglobin in the body, while iron infusion is the intravenous delivery of iron through a needle to the body, which increases the levels of iron and hemoglobin in the body.

Anemia is a medical condition that develops when the blood produces a lower amount of healthy red blood cells than usual. Therefore, the body does not get enough oxygen-rich blood. The lack of oxygen makes people feel tired or weak. Blood transfusion and iron infusion are two procedures mainly used to treat anemia.

CONTENTS

1. Overview and Key Difference
2. What is Blood Transfusion 
3. What is Iron Infusion
4. Similarities – Blood Transfusion and Iron Infusion
5. Blood Transfusion vs. Iron Infusion in Tabular Form
6. Summary – Blood Transfusion vs. Iron Infusion

What is Blood Transfusion?

A blood transfusion is a procedure that provides blood or blood components intravenously if people have lost blood due to an injury, during surgery, or have conditions that affect blood or blood components. Most importantly, a blood transfusion is given to replace blood and blood components that are very low. Normally, a blood transfusion is performed when there are medical conditions such as anemia, certain cancers, hemophilia, and sickle cell disease. Other than whole blood in blood transfusion, the blood components such as cryoprecipitate, plasma, platelets, and red blood cells also can be delivered. A blood bank preserves blood until it is required for a blood transfusion.

The benefits of blood transfusion may include helping to face a life-threatening situation, carrying oxygen through the body to the heart and brain, and helping to prevent or control bleeding. However, there are certain risks and odds associated with blood transfusion as well, such as getting certain diseases like HIV, hepatitis C, hepatitis B, bacterial contamination,  breathing troubles, fevers, chills or rashes, and hemolytic transfusion reaction.

What is Iron Infusion?

Iron is a very important mineral in the human body. If people do not get enough iron, the body is not able to make hemoglobin. This will ultimately lead to anemia. Therefore, iron infusion is the procedure of delivering iron into the vein through a needle to increase the level of iron and hemoglobin in the human body. This procedure can be performed for various patients, such as patients who are bleeding in the gastrointestinal (GI) tract, patients who have inflammatory bowel disease, patients who are on kidney dialysis, patients with iron-deficiency anemia, patients with celiac disease (gluten intolerance), and cancer patients.

Furthermore, the benefits of having an iron transfusion include increasing the iron levels in the body, which is useful in severe anemia cases, improved energy, easier breathing after the session, and regulating iron content that might be lost during menstruation. However, the risk of iron infusion may include bloating or swelling in the face, arms, hands, lower legs, or feet, dizziness, faintness, or light-headedness, pain in the gastrointestinal region, nausea, cramps, problems with breathing, skin rash, chest pain, low blood pressure, and anaphylaxis.

What are the Similarities Between Blood Transfusion and Iron Infusion?

• Blood transfusion and iron infusion are two procedures mainly used to treat anemia.
• Both procedures are performed intravenously.
• Both procedures have risks.

What is the Difference Between Blood Transfusion and Iron Infusion?

Blood transfusion is the delivery of blood or blood products intravenously to the body that increases the level of hemoglobin in the body, while iron infusion is the intravenous delivery of iron through a needle to the body that increases the levels of iron and hemoglobin in the body. Thus, this is the key difference between blood transfusion and iron infusion. Furthermore, blood transfusion is performed when there are medical conditions such as anemia, certain cancers, hemophilia, and sickle cell disease. On the other hand, iron fusion is performed when there are medical conditions and situations such as bleeding in the gastrointestinal (GI) tract, inflammatory bowel disease, kidney dialysis, iron-deficiency anemia, celiac disease (gluten intolerance), and cancer.

The infographic below presents the differences between blood transfusion and iron infusion in tabular form for side-by-side comparison.

Summary – Blood Transfusion vs Iron Infusion

Blood transfusion and iron infusion are two procedures used to treat manly anemia. Blood transfusion refers to the delivery of blood or blood products intravenously to the body, while iron infusion refers to the delivery of iron intravenously to the body. So, this is the key difference between blood transfusion and iron infusion.

Reference:

1. “Blood Infusions for Anemia Treatment.” NHS Choices.
2. “What to Know about Iron Infusions for Anemia Treatment.” GoodRx.

Image Courtesy:

1. “Blood transfusion B” By Own work – (CC0) via Commons Wikimedia
2. “Iron sucrose IV drip” By Smokefoot – Own work (CC BY-SA 4.0) via Commons Wikimedia