Intravenous iron compounds consist of an ironoxyhydroxide core, which is surrounded by a carbohydrate shell made of polymers suchas dextran, sucrose or gluconate. The first iron product for intravenous use was the highmolecular weight iron dextran. However, dextran-containing intravenous iron preparationsare associated with an elevated risk of anaphylactic reactions, which made physicians reluc-tant to use intravenous iron for the treatment of iron deficiency anemia over many years.Intravenous ferric carboxymaltose is a stable complex with the advantage of being non-dextran-containing and a very low immunogenic potential and therefore not predisposedto anaphylactic reactions.