BACKGROUND AND AIMS: We analyzed iron deficiency and the therapeutic response 
following intravenous ferric carboxymaltose in a large single-center 
inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) cohort.
METHODS: 250 IBD patients were retrospectively analyzed for iron deficiency and 
iron deficiency anemia. A subgroup was analyzed regarding efficacy and side 
effects of iron supplementation with ferric carboxymaltose.
RESULTS: In the cohort (n = 250), 54.4% of the patients had serum iron levels 
≤60 μg/dl, 81.2% had ferritin ≤100 ng/ml, and 25.6% had hemoglobin (Hb) of ≤12 
g/dl (females) or ≤13 g/dl (males). In the treatment subcohort (n = 80), 83.1% 
of the patients had iron ≤60 μg/dl, 90.4% had ferritin ≤100 ng/ml, and 66.7% had 
Hb ≤12/13 g/dl before ferric carboxymaltose treatment. After a median dose of 
500 mg ferric carboxymaltose, 74.7% of the patients reached iron >60 μg/dl, 
61.6% had ferritin >100 ng/ml, and 90.7% reached Hb >12/13 g/dl at follow-up (p 
< 0.0001 for all parameters vs. pretreatment values). The most frequent adverse 
event was a transient increase of liver enzymes with male gender as risk factor 
(p = 0.008, OR 8.62, 95% CI 1.74-41.66).
CONCLUSIONS: Iron deficiency and anemia are frequent in IBD patients. Treatment 
with ferric carboxymaltose is efficious, safe and well tolerated in 
iron-deficient IBD patients.