Intermittent claudication: clinical effectiveness of endovascular revascularization versus supervised hospital-based exercise training–randomized controlled trial.

Spronk S, Bosch JL, den Hoed PT, Veen HF, Pattynama PM, Hunink MG.

The purpose of this study was to compare clinical success, functional capacity, and quality of life during 12 months after revascularization or supervised exercise training in patients with intermittent claudication. 151 consecutive patients who presented with symptoms of intermittent claudication were randomly assigned to undergo either endovascular revascularization (angioplasty-first approach) or hospital-based supervised exercise. The outcome measures were clinical success, functional capacity, and quality of life after 6 and 12 months. Clinical success was defined as improvement in at least one category in the Rutherford scale above the pretreatment level.

After 6 and 12 months, patients with intermittent claudication benefited equally from either endovascular revascularization or supervised exercise. Improvement was, however, more immediate after revascularization.

Radiology, 2009, 250(2), 586-95.

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