Anemia affects nearly a quarter of the world and is common in surgical patients with a third of patients presenting with preoperative anemia and three quarters of patients discharged from hospital with anemia. The World Health Organization defines anemia as an insufficient circulating red cell mass, with haemoglobin (Hb) concentration of < 130 g.l-1 for men and < 120 g.l-1 for women .~Perioperative anemia is associated with increased postoperative complications and delayed patient recovery leading to increased post-operative morbidity and mortality. Anaemia also leads to an increased use of allogeneic blood transfusions, which is an independent risk for poorer patient outcomes.~Postoperative anemia can be due to blood loss at operation or secondary to the inflammatory process associated with surgery, which causes an increase in hepcidin production resulting in functional iron deficiency and reduced red cell production.~In recent years, there has been a significant increase in the use of intravenous iron therapy for preoperative anemia in line with major international guidelines
The study aims to increase our understanding of variability in adherence to anaemia management guidelines and to assess the impact of anaemia management in clinical care following major gynaecological surgery