section name header

Evidence summaries

Anticoagulants for Intermittent Claudication

Anticoagulants (heparin, oral anticoagulants) appear not to be beneficial in intermittent claudication. Level of evidence: "B"

A Cochrane review [Abstract] 1 included 7 studies with a total of 802 subjects. Three studies meeting the high quality criteria for inclusion were included in the primary analysis, the rest were included in the sensitivity analysis. Of the former, two studies evaluated oral anticoagulants (n=372), one evaluated heparin n=201). No benefit was reported for any outcome.

Comment: The quality of evidence is downgraded by sparse data.

References

Primary/Secondary Keywords