Summary of findings 1. (Oral or intravenous) prostanoid versus aspirin treatment for Buerger's disease.
| Intravenous prostacyclin analogue (iloprost) versus oral aspirin for treatment of Buerger's disease | ||||||
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Patient or population: patients with Buerger's disease Settings: hospital and community Intervention: intravenous prostacyclin analogue (iloprost) Comparison: oral aspirin | ||||||
| Outcomes | Anticipated absolute effects * (95% CI) | Relative effect (95% CI) | No of participants (studies) | Certainty of the evidence (GRADE) | Comments | |
| Risk with oral aspirin | Risk with intravenous prostacyclin analogue (iloprost) | |||||
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Ulcer healing Follow‐up: 28 days |
Study population (28 days) | RR 2.65 (1.15 to 6.11) | 98 (1 RCT) | ⊕⊕⊕⊝1,2 moderate | ||
| 130 per 1000 |
346 per 1000 (150 to 797) |
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Complete relief of rest pain Follow‐up: 28 days |
Study population | RR 2.28 (1.48 to 3.52) | 133 (1 RCT) | ⊕⊕⊕⊝1,2 moderate | ||
| 277 per 1000 |
631 per 1000 (410 to 975) |
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Rate of amputation Follow‐up: 6 months |
Study population | RR 0.32 (0.09 to 1.15) | 95 (1 RCT) |
⊕⊕⊕⊝1,2 moderate | ||
| 182 per 1000 |
58 per 1000 (16 to 209) |
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| *The risk in the intervention group (and its 95% confidence interval) is based on the assumed risk in the comparison group and the relative effect of the intervention (and its 95% CI). CI: confidence interval; RR: risk ratio | ||||||
| GRADE Working Group grades of evidence High certainty: We are very confident that the true effect lies close to that of the estimate of the effect Moderate certainty: We are moderately confident in the effect estimate: The true effect is likely to be close to the estimate of the effect, but there is a possibility that it is substantially different Low certainty: Our confidence in the effect estimate is limited: The true effect may be substantially different from the estimate of the effect Very low certainty: We have very little confidence in the effect estimate: The true effect is likely to be substantially different from the estimate of effect | ||||||
1 one single study (doubt about reproducibility of data), downgraded by one level 2 conflict of interest not stated but it was not considered sufficient to downgrade the certainty of evidence