Moran PS, Teljeur C, Harrington P, Ryan M, et al.
Vascular medicine (London, England). Date of publication 2015 Feb 1;volume 20(1):41-50.
1. Vasc Med. 2015 Feb;20(1):41-50. doi: 10.1177/1358863X14552096. Epub 2014 Sep 30.
A systematic review of intermittent pneumatic compression for critical limb
ischaemia.
Moran PS(1), Teljeur C(2), Harrington P(2), Ryan M(2).
Author information:
(1)Health Information and Quality Authority, Dublin, Ireland pmoran@hiqa.ie.
(2)Health Information and Quality Authority, Dublin, Ireland.
Intermittent pneumatic compression (IPC) is designed to aid wound healing and
limb salvage for patients with critical limb ischaemia who are not candidates for
revascularisation. We conducted a systematic review of the literature to identify
and critically appraise the evidence supporting its use in this population. A
search was conducted in Embase, MEDLINE and clinical trial registries up to the
end of March 2013. No date or language restrictions were applied. Quality
assessment was performed by two people independently. Quality was assessed using
the Cochrane risk of bias tool and the NICE case-series assessment tool. Two
controlled before-and-after (CBA) studies and six case series were identified.
One retrospective CBA study involving compression of the calf reported improved
limb salvage and wound healing (OR 7.00, 95% CI 1.82 to 26.89, p<0.01). One
prospective CBA study involving sequential compression of the foot and calf
reported statistically significant improvements in claudication distances and
SF-36 quality of life scores. No difference in all-cause mortality was found.
Complications included pain associated with compression, as well as skin abrasion
and contact rash as a result of the cuff rubbing against the skin. All studies
had a high risk of bias. In conclusion, the limited available results suggest
that IPC may be associated with improved limb salvage, wound healing and pain
management. However, in the absence of additional well-designed analytical
studies examining the effect of IPC in critical limb ischaemia, this treatment
remains unproven.
© The Author(s) 2014.
DOI: 10.1177/1358863X14552096
PMID: 25270409 [Indexed for MEDLINE]
