Efficacy and safety of DOACs in patients with peripheral arterial disease: A systematic review and meta-analysis

Abstract

Background The efficacy and safety of direct oral anticoagulants (DOACs) in patients with peripheral arterial disease are not completely understood. Therefore, we conducted a meta-analysis to explore the effects of DOACs in this population. Methods We systematically searched the PubMed, Cochrane Library, and Web of Science till April 2020 for relevant randomized controlled trials and observational studies, with no linguistic restrictions. The efficacy outcomes were cardiovascular death, stroke, myocardial infraction, major adverse cardiovascular events (MACE), acute limb ischemia, amputation, and target lesion revascularization. The safety outcome was major bleeding events. Random effects risk ratios with 95% confidence intervals were calculated. Results A total four randomized controlled trials were included in this meta-analysis. Among peripheral arterial disease patients, DOACs did not reduce the risk of cardiovascular death (RR = 1.02 95%CI 0.75–1.37, P = 0.92), stroke (RR = 0.73 95%CI 0.46–1.14, P = 0.16), myocardial infraction (RR = 0.85 95%CI 0.70–1.03, P = 0.10), MACE (RR = 0.73 95%CI 0.46–1.14, P = 0.16), or amputation (RR = 0.73 95%CI 0.46–1.14, P = 0.16) compared with control. However, DOACs were associated with reduction in acute limb ischemia (RR = 0.67 95%CI 0.55–0.80, P < 0.01) and target lesion revascularization (RR = 0.89 95%CI 0.81–0.99, P = 0.02) at the expense of major bleeding events (RR = 1.43 95%CI 1.16–1.77, P < 0.01) compared with control. Conclusions Based on current evidence, no significant difference in cardiovascular death, stroke, myocardial infraction, MACE, and amputation was found when DOACs were compared to antiplatelet monotherapy. The benefits of preventing target lesion revascularization and acute limb ischemia were balanced by amplified risk of major bleeding. Larger randomized controlled trials are needed to figure out the uncertainty around efficacy and safety of medications for peripheral arterial disease.