A Bayesian network meta‐analysis for acute thrombosis after lower extremity artery endovascular treatment

Abstract Background Various endovascular treatment devices have been widely used in the lower extremity arterial disease (LEAD). Their patency efficiency for target lesions has been well studied and reported. Comparison of the risk of acute thrombosis events between the different endovascular treatment devices is unclear. Aims To rank the risk of acute thrombosis events when bare metal stents (BMSs), covered stents (CSs), drug‐eluting stents (DESs), drug‐coated balloons (DCBs), and conventional percutaneous transluminal balloon angioplasty (PTA) are used to treat LEAD through Bayesian network meta‐analysis. Methods We performed a network meta‐analysis of randomized controlled trials comparing the risk of 1‐year postoperative acute thrombosis between BMSs, CSs, DESs, DCBs, and PTA for treating LEAD. Bayesian random models were used for pooled endovascular treatment modality comparisons. We ranked these treatment modalities via the Bayesian method according to their surface under the cumulative ranking curve (SUCRA) and estimated probabilities. Results Nineteen studies (38 study arms; 2758 patients) were included. The Bayesian network ranking of treatments indicated that DCB had the lowest risk of acute thrombosis, PTA had the second‐lowest risk of thrombosis, and CS, BMS, and DES had the highest risk of thrombosis. Regarding the treatment efficacy, the OR values of the loss of primary patency were significantly lower for DCB (OR = 0.44, 95% CI: 0.30‐0.62), DES (OR = 0.36, 95% CI: 0.14‐0.94), and CS (OR = 0.31, 95% CI: 0.18,0.56) than for PTA. When BMS was used as a reference, only the OR for CS was significantly lower (OR = 0.41, 95% CI = 0.21‐0.82). Correspondingly, the Bayesian ranking of treatments from better to worse target lesion primary patency was CS, DES, DCB, BMS, and PTA. Conclusion With the available research evidence and according to the network analysis ranking, DES appears to have the highest risk of acute thrombosis and DCB appears to have the lowest risk.