Endovascular thrombectomy for the treatment of acute ischemic stroke

Few patients benefit from the current standard treatment for acute ischemic stroke (AIS), encouraging the development of new treatments. Objective: To systematically review the literature on the efficacy and/or safety of endovascular thrombectomy in AIS compared to standard treatment and to identify ongoing randomized controlled trials (RCTs). Method: Searches for RCTs were performed in Medline/Embase, and for ongoing trials: International Clinical Trial Registry Platform, Clinicaltrials.gov and ISRCTN registry (to June 15th, 2015). Results: From the eight published RCTs, five showed the superiority of treatment that includes thrombectomy compared to standard care alone. From the 13 ongoing RCTs, 3 have been halted, one has not started, one has unknown status and eight will end between 2016- 2020. Conclusion: Evidence favours a combination of the standard therapy with endovascular thrombectomy. The selection criteria however limit the number of people who can benefit. Further studies are needed to prove its cost-effectiveness.