Introduction:
Studies have shown decrease rates of restenosis and target lesion revascularization (TLR) with drug eluting balloon (DEB) in diabetic patients with critical limb ischemia (CLI).
Hypothesis:
The aim of this meta-analysis to compare the efficacy of DEB versus Percutaneous transluminal angioplasty (PTA) below the knee peripheral intervention.
Methods:
Electronic databases including MEDLINE, ClinicalTrials.gov and the Cochrane Library were searched for all randomized controlled trials (RCTs) published until April 2020 comparing outcomes of DEB vs PTA in patients with CLI below the knee. End points were major amputation, major adverse events (MAEs), all-cause mortality, target lesion revascularization (TLR), myocardial infarction, and cerebrovascular accidents (CVA). The risk ratio (RR) with 95% confidence interval (CI) were computed and p <0.05 was considered as a level of significance.
Results:
A total of 4 RCTs (n=655) were included in the final analysis. There were no differences of major amputation (RR: 1.30; CI: 0.68-2.46; p=0.43), MAEs (RR: 0.86; CI: 0.60-1.23; p=0.41), all-cause mortality (RR: 0.91; CI: 0.69-1.19; p=0.48), TLR (RR: 0.65; CI: 0.30-1.44; p=0.29), MI (RR: 1.71; CI: 0.57-5.14; p=0.34) and CVA (RR: 0.66; CI: 0.19-2.26; p=0.50) between the 2 groups [Figure 1].
Conclusions:
There were no significant differences of major amputation and TLR for DEB versus PTA . Major adverse cardiac, cerebrovascular events and all-cause mortality were not statistically different for drug coated balloon versus PTA in the management of below knee critical limb ischemia. Further studies needed to confirm these findings.