Treatment strategies for functional iron deficiency in critically ill patients may be divided broadly into (1) iron supplementation and (2) mitigation of the effects of hepcidin. The goals of treatment are to reverse the serum iron debt, eliminate IDE, improve anemia, and ultimately decrease pRBCs transfusions. Given that approximately 90% of critically ill trauma patients with an ICU length of stay (LOS) ≥ 7 days receive at least one pRBCs transfusion, any strategy that has even a modest impact upon the transfusion requirement is likely to improve overall health outcomes substantially.