OBJECTIVE: Intravascular ultrasound (IVUS) is an important adjunctive tool for patients with lower extremity peripheral arterial disease (PAD) undergoing endovascular therapy (EVT). The evidence regarding the advantages of IVUS use is evolving, and recent studies have reported conflicting results. We aimed to perform a meta-analysis to evaluate the efficacy of IVUS during angiography-guided EVT for patients with PAD.
METHODS: MEDLINE and EMBASE were searched through April 2023 to identify studies that investigated the outcomes of IVUS with angiography-guided EVT versus angiography-alone guided EVT. The primary outcome was restenosis/occlusion rate; secondary outcomes were target lesion revascularization (TLR), major amputation, and mortality.
RESULTS: One randomized controlled trial and 14 observational studies, largely of moderate quality, were included, yielding a total of 708 808 patients with 709 189 lesions that were treated with IVUS-guided EVT (n = 101 405) versus angiography-alone (n = 607 784). Compared to angiography-alone, IVUS-guided EVT was associated with a non-significant trend towards decreased restenosis/occlusion (relative risk (RR) [95% Confidence interval (CI)] = 0.74 [0.54-1.00], I2 = 60%). Although the risk of TLR and mortality were comparable (RR [95% CI] = 0.85 [0.65-1.10], I2 = 70%, RR [95% CI] = 1.01 [0.79-1.28], I2 = 43%, respectively), the use of IVUS was also associated with significantly lower risk of major amputation (RR [95% CI] = 0.74 [0.67-0.82], I2 = 47%). Subgroup analysis focusing on femoropopliteal disease demonstrated significantly higher patency (RR [95% CI] = 0.72 [0.52-0.98], I2 = 73%). However, superiority with major amputation was not observed.
CONCLUSIONS: IVUS-guided EVT for PAD may possibly be associated with a lower major amputation rate compared to angiography-alone guided EVT, although the difference in patency remained an insignificant trend in favor of IVUS-guided EVT. Adjunctive use of IVUS during EVT may be beneficial, and further prospective studies are warranted to delineate this relationship and the applicability of this technology in routine practice.