Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis on DCB vs. POBA in De-novo Femoropopliteal Disease

Peripheral arterial disease is the third leading entity of atherosclerosis. The femoropopliteal segment is affected in most patients. Endovascular revascularisation is one possible treatment option, but high rates of restenosis, especially in complex lesions, are a limiting factor. Bare-metal stents failed to show a long-term superiority in a Cochrane systematic review. Another approach to prevent restenosis is local delivery of an antiproliferative drug (e.g. Paclitaxel) via Drug-Coated Balloon Angioplasty. New studies did report their results since the publication of earlier meta-analyses. It's time for an up-to-date systematic review. Prior systematic reviews did not address risk of bias nor did they take differences in treatment strategy despite the used balloon catheter into consideration.Some previous reviews did compare results from different points in time, e.g. analysis of 6 months' results together with 24 months' results.