Naftidrofuryl for intermittent claudication

Patients with narrowed arteries of the lower limbs may be hampered by pain in their calves after relatively short walks. This limits the distance they can walk, and hence their quality of life. This is a sure sign of atherosclerosis. These patients are at greater risk of cardiovascular death and should take preventive measures. The symptoms of the disease can be alleviated by smoking cessation and exercise. The question is whether specific drugs such as naftidrofuryl also reduce symptoms, more than placebo. To answer the question, we collected all published reports of randomized trials where the drug was compared with placebo. In addition, we went back to the original data of individual patients and made one big database with all data from all patients from all trials. We included seven studies with a total of 1266 patients. The improvement of pain-free walking distance was 37% larger in the naftidrofuryl group than the improvement observed in the placebo group. In the naftidrofuryl group 55% of the patients improved by more than 50%, compared with 30% of patients on placebo. Naftidrofuryl 200 mg (taken three times a day by mouth) improved walking distance in the six months after the start of therapy.