Health related quality of life in patients with critical limb ischemia

Critical limb ischemia (CLI) is the terminal stage of peripheral artery disease. Research in recent years has been largely focussed on treatment options such as bypass surgery/endovascular treatment, surgery/primary amputation and additional benefits of supportive pharmacotherapy. Despite this plethora of treatment options, however, patients continue to have a reduced health related quality of life (HRQoL). Aim of the present work was to review the available evidence of improvement of HRQoL with regard to different treatment options. We found that a number of clinical studies have been conducted using HRQoL measures mostly as secondary outcomes in patients with CLI and other less severe forms of peripheral arterial disease. The studies demonstrate a consistent improvement of HRQoL over baseline within the first few months after the intervention. Prostaglandins, but no other pharmacotherapies, appear to be effective in patients without an option for revascularization. Due to a largely differing patient population under investigation and the different degrees of disease progression it appears difficult however to compare different treatment options with respect to their impact on HRQoL. HRQoL improvement as a predefined endpoint of novel therapeutic approach studies should be considered more consequently.