Iron Deficiency Calculator

Your details

Use actual body weight. If the patient is significantly overweight, some clinicians use ideal body weight; consult local protocols.
kg
The patient's current measured hemoglobin from a blood test.
g/dL
The desired hemoglobin after treatment. Typical targets: 12-13 g/dL for women, 13-15 g/dL for men, ~11-12 g/dL for CKD patients.
g/dL
Iron stores replenish the body depot beyond correcting hemoglobin. Standard adult depot is 500 mg; pediatric patients under 35 kg use 15 mg/kg.
Total iron deficitSevere deficit
1,172mg

Cumulative elemental iron dose needed to restore Hb and replenish stores

Iron stores added500mg
Hemoglobin correction component672mg
Weight used70kg
Actual Hb (g/dL)8g/dL
Target Hb (g/dL)12g/dL
Hb correction672
Iron stores500

Estimated total iron deficit: 1172 mg of elemental iron.

  • Raising hemoglobin from 8.0 to 12.0 g/dL requires approximately 672 mg of elemental iron for hemoglobin correction alone.
  • An additional 500 mg is added to replenish body iron stores, giving a total dose of 1172 mg.
  • Intravenous iron is preferred when anemia is severe, oral iron is not tolerated, or absorption is impaired (e.g., inflammatory bowel disease, chronic kidney disease).
  • The Ganzoni equation estimates cumulative elemental iron - individual infusion volumes depend on the specific IV iron product and local protocol.

Next stepA total deficit of 1172 mg is substantial and typically requires multiple infusions or a high-dose single-infusion product such as ferric carboxymaltose. Confirm with a prescriber.

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