Limb Salvage After Percutaneous Mechanical Thrombectomy in Patients with Acute Lower Limb Ischemia: A Retrospective Analysis from Two Institutions

Abstract

Background: To evaluate the short-term outcomes of percutaneous mechanical thrombectomy (PMT) in patients with acute lower limb ischemia (ALI) and to analyze the effect of ALI of different etiologies on the limb salvage.

Materials and methods: From January 2015 to December 2017, a retrospective analysis was performed on 112 patients (mean age: 66.5 years; 117 limbs in total; 66 limbs in 61 males) with ALI treated with PMT at 2 vascular institutions. Of the 117 limbs, 44 (41 patients) had acute arterial embolism, 36 (34 patients) had acute arterial thrombosis, and 37 (37 patients) had acute stent (31 limbs in 31 patients) or graft (6 limbs in 6 patients) thrombosis. The primary end point was limb salvage rate, and subgroups were analyzed by etiological factors. The secondary end points included patency rates, major bleeding complications, 30-day mortality, and reintervention rates.

Results: The 30-day mortality rate was 3.6%. The incidence of major bleeding complications was 2.7%. During the follow-up, the limb salvage rates at 1 year and 2 years were 83.8% and 74.7%, respectively. Subgroup analysis showed that the limb salvage rate in patients with acute arterial embolism was 92.9% at 2 years after PMT, which was higher than that in patients with acute arterial thrombosis (73.3%, P = 0.04, hazard ratio [HR]: 3.6, 95% confidence interval [CI]: 1.1-11.7) and acute stent/graft thrombosis (62.5%, P = 0.01, HR: 4.7, 95% CI: 1.5-13.6).

Conclusions: PMT in patients with ALI is effective in preventing amputations over the 3-year study period with a reasonable safety profile, especially in patients with acute arterial embolism.