Measures to Increase the Effectiveness of Fast Track Colorectal Clinics for Iron Deficiency Anaemia.

A retrospective cohort study was conducted from 2016-18 in a single busy district general hospital providing services to a population of 700,000 people.
In the study, patients with true IDA (low MCV and ferritin) were found to be more likely to have Colorectal cancer compared to any other type of anaemia which confirmed the latest guidelines for management of IDA. Compared to symptoms, only the presence of a mass on abdominal examination and rectal examination was found to be more likely associated with cancer.