The Impact of Antithrombotic Regimens on Clinical Outcomes After Endovascular Intervention and Bypass Surgery for Infrapopliteal Artery Disease.

Endovascular intervention and bypass surgery are the main options of treatments for infrapopliteal artery disease. Although post-intervention treatment with antiplatelet (AP) and/or anticoagulant (AC) drugs has reduced morbidity and mortality rates from cardiovascular complications; the ideal antithrombotic treatment regimen is unknown. The aim of this review was to compare the efficacy and safety of various anticoagulation and/or AP therapy regimens in patients undergoing below-knee endovascular treatment for infrapopliteal artery disease. We reviewed published literature in PubMed and Google Scholar, and Cochrane, evaluating efficacy and safety outcomes after antithrombotic treatment following endovascular intervention or bypass surgery in patients with infrapopliteal artery disease. We extracted relevant efficacy and safety data with related statistics from each study. We found that AP treatment should be administered to patients receiving endovascular therapy or bypass. We did not find superior effects for dual AP treatment (DAPT) over mono-AP therapy (MAPT) for endovascular intervention or bypass surgery with venous graft, suggesting that MAPT suffices for these groups. Also, aspirin + clopidogrel was effective over aspirin alone for prosthetic, but not venous graft, albeit higher non-severe bleeding incidences, suggesting a potential benefit of this regime for below-knee prosthetic graft. AP + AC yielded superior results compared to AP following endovascular procedure and bypass surgery, suggesting the potential benefit of this regime in the absence of contraindications. More prospective studies with large number of patients are warranted to identify the best treatment for infrapopliteal artery diseases.