Summary of findings 2. Chronic DVT ‐ antiplatelet agents plus BMP compared to BMP alone for the treatment of DVT.
| Antiplatelet agents plus BMP compared to BMP alone for the treatment of chronic DVT | ||||||
| Patient or population: people requiring treatment for chronic DVT Setting: outpatient setting Intervention: antiplatelet agents plus BMP Comparison: BMP alone | ||||||
| Outcomes | Anticipated absolute effects* (95% CI) | Relative effect (95% CI) | № of participants (studies) | Certainty of the evidence (GRADE) | Comments | |
| Risk with BMP alone | Risk with antiplatelet agents plus BMP | |||||
| Recurrent VTE ‐ early and intermediate | Study population | RR 0.12 (0.05 to 0.34) | 224 (1 RCT) | ⊕⊝⊝⊝ Very lowa,b,c | Includes recurrent DVT only | |
| 293 per 1000 | 258 less per 1000 (278 less to 193 less) | |||||
| Major bleeding | Study population | Not estimable | 224 (1 RCT) | ⊕⊝⊝⊝ Very lowa,b,c,d | The study authors reported no major bleeding. | |
| ‐ | ||||||
| Pulmonary embolism follow‐up: range 1 year to 3 years | Study population | Not estimable | 224 (1 RCT) | ⊕⊝⊝⊝ Very lowa,b,c | The study authors reported no pulmonary embolism. | |
| ‐ | ||||||
| Mortality ‐ early and intermediate | Study population | Not estimable | 224 (1 RCT) | ⊕⊝⊝⊝ Very lowa,b,c | The study authors reported no deaths. | |
| ‐ | ||||||
| Post‐thrombotic syndrome | No studies measured this outcome | |||||
| Adverse events | Study population | Not estimable | 224 (1 RCT) | ⊕⊝⊝⊝ Very lowa,b,c | The study authors reported no adverse events. | |
| ‐ | ||||||
| *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). BMP: best medical practice; CI: confidence interval; DVT: deep venous thrombosis; RCT: randomised controlled trial; RR: risk ratio; VTE: venous thromboembolism | ||||||
| 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. | ||||||
aDowngraded a half level due to imprecision: fewer than 300 events were included in the analysis. bDowngraded two levels due to study limitations: the control group did not have an oral treatment, not even placebo; participants and personnel were not blinded; authors reported that all included participants concluded the analysis but there were dropouts in all groups, without details provided; the full protocol was not available, only report information. cDowngraded one level due to other considerations: there is suspicion of duplicate publication. dDowngraded one level due to indirectness: no explanation as to what was considered major bleeding or if there was any.