Background and Objective: anemia is one of the main problems of chronic renal failure patients undergone Hemodialysis and erythropoietin is not effective for these patients. Since Vitamin C deficiency in Hemodialysis patients is common, this study was performed to compare the effect of intravenous and oral ascorbic acid consumption on anemia in Hemodialysis patients.

  Material and Methods: this clinical trial was conducted on 75 patients, selected via convenience sampling and including criteria (hemoglobin, 11mg/dl ferritin, 100ug/L transferring saturation, < 20%). The subjects were randomly assigned to three equal groups of control , oral ascorbic acid (POAA) and intravenous ascorbic acid (IVAA) After each every-other-day dialysis performed for eight weeks, the patients of IVAA group were given 300mg intravenous vitamin C and the ones of POAA group given 500mg vitamin C orally. The Plasma iron with chemical method, total iron-binding capacity (TIBC) and ferritin level with indirect method, hemoglobin with cell counter and transferring saturation (TSAT) with related formula were measured. Using a checklist, the data of demographic, laboratory results and side effects were recorded and analyzed by SPSS-13, using ANOVA and scheffe post-hoc test (p≤ 0.05).

  Results: the baseline hemoglobin, serum iron, ferritin, TIBC and TSAT in three groups were not different significantly. After intervention, the hemoglobin level of IVAA group( 20.1g/dl ) and in POAA group (0.99g/dl) were increased compared to control group(P>0.001). the mean of hemoglobin in IVAA was significantly more than POAA (P>0.05).

  Conclusion: based on the results, the use of oral and intravenous vitamin C can be effective in the anemia caused by iron deficiency, especially vitamin C injection that is more beneficial.