New insight of the efficacy trimetazidine in patients with peripheral arterial disease: a meta-analysis.

BACKGROUND: This review aims to examine the impact of trimetazidine on skeletal muscle function in patients suffering from peripheral artery disease (PAD).

METHODS: We searched for studies, both experimental and observational research, concerning the comparison of trimetazidine administration to placebo/standard of care in patients with PAD in PubMed, ScienceDirect, and Cochrane. Meta-analyses of the included studies were performed using Review Manager v5.4. Clinical parameters [ankle-brachial index (ABI) and maximum walking distance (MWD)] were analyzed.

RESULTS: Three observational studies involving 378 participants with PAD satisfied predefined criteria. There was no substantial difference between the examined groups' on ABI (pre- and post-intervention) (MD = - 0.06 [- 0.19 to 0.07], p = 0.38, I2  = 90%). Meanwhile, MWD improvement was significantly higher (MD = 14.15 [6.05-22.25], p = 0.0006, I2  = 37%) in trimetazidine group than in the control group.

CONCLUSIONS: Current evidence from our meta-analysis suggests the beneficial role of trimetazidine's anti-ischemic effect in PAD patients by improving MWD, while it has an insignificant influence on ABI.