Efficacy of Ascorbic Acid on Reducing the Development of Contrast-Induced Nephropathy

Introduction To assess the benefits of prophylactic ascorbic acid to reduce development of contrast-induced nephropathy (CIN) in patients undergoing percutaneous coronary interventions (PCIs). Methods PubMed was searched with the search strategy of (vitamin C OR ascorbic acid) AND (kidney OR renal) AND (PCI OR percutaneous coronary Intervention OR cardiac OR heart). There was no date and language restriction for the selection of the articles. All the randomized controlled trials (RCTs) which investigated the efficacy of AA on reducing the incidence of CIN were included. Totally 267 articles were found at the initial search; however, only 10 RCTs were eligible to be included. Odds ratio is presented for each of the articles as the effect size. Conclusions Controversial findings were reported on the efficacy of AA on reducing the CIN development; due to various limitations of these articles, there is still great debate among the cardiology and radiology communities, which increases the need for further researches.