The efficacy of atherectomy combined with percutaneous transluminal angioplasty (PTA)/drug-coated balloon (DCB) compared with PTA/DCB for infrapopliteal arterial diseases: A systematic review and meta-analysis

Objectives With the development of endovascular therapies, some studies have indicated a therapeutic potential for infrapopliteal arterial revascularization with atherectomy (AT). This study was designed to perform a meta-analysis to investigate the efficacy of AT combined with percutaneous transluminal angioplasty (PTA) or drug-coated balloon (DCB) compared with PTA or DCB for infrapopliteal arterial diseases. Methods This is a systematic review and meta-analysis. The Pubmed, Web of Science, and Cochrane Library were systematically searched for articles published up to November 2022, reporting using atherectomy devices for infrapopliteal arterial patients. Randomized controlled trials and retrospective studies were included, and clinical characteristic outcomes were extracted and pooled. Then, we analyzed the efficacies of the AT (AT + PTA or DCB) group and the non-AT (DCB or PTA) group for infrapopliteal arterial patients. Results We identified 6 studies with 1269 patients included in this meta-analysis. The risk ratios (RRs) of primary patency for patients treated with atherectomy group compared to non-atherectomy group at 6 months was 1.03 (95% confidence intervals (CIs) 0.86–1.23, p = .74), at 12 months was 1.05 (95% CIs 0.84–1.30, p = .66), in the subgroup analysis between AT combined with DCB and DCB alone, the RRs of primary patency was 1.56 (95% CIs 1.02–2.39, p = .04). The RRs of freedom from target lesion revascularization (TLR) at 6 months was 1.04 (95% CIs 0.93–1.17, p = .45), at 12 months was 1.20 (95% CIs 0.83–1.75, p = .33). The RRs of mortality at 6 months was 0.57 (95% CIs 0.29–1.11, p = .10), and at 12 months was 0.79 (95% CI 0.50–1.25, p = .31). The RRs of limb salvage at 12 months was 0.99 (95% CIs 0.92–1.07, p = .87). The standardized mean difference (SMD) of (Ankle-brachial index) ABI at 12 months was 0.16 (95% CIs 0.06–0.26, p = .001). Conclusions According to this systematic review and meta-analysis, no significant advantages were found with the addition of atherectomy to balloon angioplasty in the below-the-knee segment. Only in the analysis of a small subgroup of atherectomy + DCB versus DCB alone was the primary patency rate at six months significantly higher when adding atherectomy. No further significant differences were found related to 12 months of primary patency, TLR, limb salvage, and mortality among groups.