Ascorbic Acid to Prevent Postpolypectomy Bleeding in the Colon: A Randomized Controlled Trial

It has been reported that vitamin C replacement can quickly reverse nonspecific bleeding in surgical patients with normal coagulation parameters. We evaluated the effect of intravenous ascorbic acid administration for prevention of postpolypectomy bleeding in large polyps of the colon.

Patients with large polyps with heads larger than 10 mm, stalk diameter larger than 5 mm, and a length larger than 10 mm were included in this randomized controlled clinical trial. In the study group, the first 500 mg intravenous dose of vitamin C diluted in normal saline was administered 2 h before colonoscopic resection of polyps and the second and third similar doses were administered on days 2 and 3 of polypectomy, respectively. The control group received normal saline in a similar fashion. The resection of polyps was performed in snare and cut-blend mode. Early and late postoperative bleeding were compared between the two groups.

A total of 153 polyps were resected by endoscopic polypectomy. Early bleeding was observed in 7.2% of the patients, which was significantly lower in the vitamin C group (2.6% vs 11.8%, P = 0.03). Late bleeding was observed in 6.5% of the patients with a trend lower in the vitamin C group (2.6% vs 10.5%, P = 0.057). The proportion of postprocedural bleeding was significantly higher in the vitamin C group (5% vs 20%, P = 0.007). Hazard ratios of early and postprocedural bleeding were 78% and 76% lower in the vitamin C group compared to the control group (P < 0.05).

Intravenous ascorbic acid infusion could reduce postpolypectomy bleeding.