SUPER Study; SUPERvised Exercise or Angioplasty for Intermittent Claudication Due to an Iliac Artery Obstruction.

Overview

The purpose of our study is to compare the clinical effectiveness and cost-effectiveness of two treatment strategies of Intermittent Claudication (IC) due to an iliac artery obstruction: to start with SUPERvised Exercise Therapy (SET) and deferred Percutaneous Transluminal Angioplasty (PTA) in case of SET failure, or immediate PTA. It is our hypothesis that PTA as first line treatment is more effective than SET as first line treatment with regard to maximum walking distance, quality of life and costs after one year.

Intermittent claudication (IC) is a manifestation of cardiovascular disease, reflected by a threefold increased risk in these patients of developing serious cardiovascular events. Treatment of patients with IC is aimed at secondary prevention of cardiovascular events by control of risk factors for atherosclerotic disease, and to improve walking distance and subsequently quality of life. Supervised Exercise Therapy (SET) and Percutaneous Transluminal Angioplasty (PTA) can effectively improve pain free walking distance, but the optimal choice of treatment, specifically in patients with an iliac artery stenosis or occlusion is unclear. PTA is attractive as initial therapy since PTA of the iliac arteries has an immediate effect and it is durable. There is a lack of evidence from randomized controlled trials (RCT) to define the optimal treatment strategy for patients with IC due to iliac artery lesions; first line treatment with SET and PTA in case of failure, or immediate iliac artery PTA. Purpose: To define the optimal treatment strategy of IC due to an iliac artery obstruction: To start with SET and deferred PTA in case of SET failure, or immediate PTA. Design: Multicenter randomized controlled trial. Patients: 400 patients with IC due to an iliac artery stenosis or occlusion. Interventions: SET and PTA. Outcomes: Primary outcomes are quality of life (Qol) recorded with the disease specific VascuQol instrument and maximum walking distance on a standardized treadmill test with a speed of 3.2 km/h at 10% incline after 1 year. Secondary outcomes are pain-free walking distance, generic Qol, functional status, complications, number of treatment failures and costs. Economic evaluation comprises a cost-effectiveness and cost-utility analysis from a societal perspective, with the costs per patient able to walk maximal, respectively the costs per Quality Adjusted Life-Year (QALY) as outcome measures.