Fig 1.
PRISMA flow diagram for the study inclusion and exclusion process.
Table 1.
Characteristics of the included studies.
Table 2.
Bias risk assessment and methodology of the meta-analysis.
Fig 2.
Forest plot demonstrating the proportion of patients who received transfusion (%).
Subgroup analysis according to (A) the iron dose and (B) period of intravenous iron therapy (IVIT) administration. CI, confidence interval; I2, statistical heterogeneity.
Table 3.
Results of meta-analysis for the proportion of patients who received transfusion and units of RBCs transfused.
Sub-group analysis according to the dose of intravenous (IV) iron (low dose: ≤ 300 mg and high dose: > 400 mg), the period of intravenous iron therapy (IVIT) (pre-operative, post-operative, and perioperative periods), and the study design (RCTs vs. CCSs).
Fig 3.
Forest plot showing the units of RBCs transfused (U/patient).
Subgroup analysis according to (A) iron dose and (B) period of intravenous iron therapy (IVIT). SD, standard deviation; CI, confidence interval; I2, statistical heterogeneity.
Fig 4.
Recovery profiles: (A) length of hospital stay (days), (B) post-operative infections (%), (C) mortality (%). SD, standard deviation; CI, confidence interval; I2, statistical heterogeneity.