Objectives: To evaluate case series studies that quantitatively assess the effects of
catheter-directed thrombolysis (CDT) and compare the efficacy of CDT and
anticoagulation in patients with acute lower extremity deep vein thrombosis
(DVT). Methods: Relevant databases, including PubMed, Embase, Cochrane, Ovid MEDLINE and
Scopus, were searched through January 2017. The inclusion criteria were
applied to select patients with acute lower extremity DVT treated with CDT
or with anticoagulation. In the case series studies, the pooled estimates of
efficacy outcomes for patency rate, complete lysis, rethrombosis and
post-thrombotic syndrome (PTS) were calculated across the studies. In
studies comparing CDT with anticoagulation, summary odds ratios (ORs) were
calculated. Results: Twenty-five articles (six comparing CDT with anticoagulation and 19 case
series) including 2254 patients met the eligibility criteria. In the case
series studies, the pooled results were a patency rate of 0.87 (95% CI:
0.85-0.89), complete lysis 0.58 (95% CI: 0.40-0.75), rethrombosis 0.11 (95%
CI: 0.06-0.17) and PTS 0.10 (95% CI: 0.08-0.12). Six studies comparing the
efficacy outcomes of CDT and anticoagulation showed that CDT was associated
with a reduction of PTS (OR 0.38, 95%CI 0.26-0.55, p<0.0001) and a higher
patency rate (OR 4.76, 95%CI 2.14-10.56, p<0.0001). Conclusion: Acute lower extremity DVT patients receiving CDT were found to have a lower
incidence of PTS and a higher incidence of patency rate. In our
meta-analysis, CDT is shown to be an effective treatment for acute lower
extremity DVT patients.