Exercise therapy or angioplasty? A summation analysis

Objectives: lo compare the outcome of exercise therapy or angioplasty for the treatment of patients with intermittent claudication. Design: a summation analysis. Methods: a search using MEDLINE and PUBMED between 1966 and April 1999 followed by a review of the manuscripts yielded 54 studies involving angioplasty and 27 studies involving exercise therapy for intermittent claudication. Studies were only included (12 angioplasty and nine exercise series) when results were available for patients with intermittent claudication alone, and when outcome was assessed in terms of symptoms at a minimum of 6 months. Results: the total number of claudicants undergoing exercise therapy was 294 patients, with a mean symptomatic success rate of 38.4% and a mean improvement in maximum walking distance of 189.7% at 6 months. The total number of claudicants undergoing angioplasty was 2071, with a mean overall symptomatic success rate of 76.6%. The mean overall complication rate was 9% and mean major complication rate was 2.7% for the angioplasty studies. Conclusion: although the result demonstrates an advantage of angioplasty over exercise therapy at 6 months, there is a small risk of major complications. However, comparison of studies was impaired due to disparity in patient numbers, limited follow-up time and lack of uniformity in outcome assessment. In order to achieve a valid comparison of these therapies in a future randomised study, a validated disease-specific instrument for the assessment of symptomatic outcome for claudicants is required.