查看文章

There is no consensus on the efficacy of the antithrombotic drugs available for patients with intermittent claudication. A Medline and manual search was used to identify relevant publications. Uncontrolled or retrospective studies, double reports or trials without clinical outcomes were excluded. Included studies were graded as level 1 (randomised and double- or assessor-blind), level 2 (open randomised), or level 3 (non-randomised comparative). Mortality, cerebro- or cardiovascular events, amputations, arterial occlusions or number of revascularization procedures performed in the lower limbs, pain-free and total walking distance, ankle brachial index and calf blood flow, were the main outcomes considered. When feasible, end of treatment results, either continuous or binary, were combined with appropriate statistical methods. Mortality was significantly decreased by ticlopidine …