Published online Jan 14, 2022. doi: 10.12998/wjcc.v10.i2.585
Peer-review started: June 18, 2021
First decision: September 28, 2021
Revised: October 14, 2021
Accepted: December 2, 2021
Article in press: December 2, 2021
Published online: January 14, 2022
Processing time: 207 Days and 18.7 Hours
Acute ischemic stroke (AIS) has been a global health challenge. And new treatments have been explored. Argatroban as a novel direct thrombin inhibitor has been used in treating AIS. However, the exact efficiency and safety remain unclear.
The drug safety of argatroban has been proved by many studies. However, the results of present studies on evaluating curative effect of argatroban on AIS were quite controversial, which has puzzled us in confirming the role of argatroban in AIS treatment. Therefore, it is necessary to do such an analysis to further evaluate the efficiency and safety of argatroban in treating AIS.
The objective of this study was to evaluate the efficiency and safety of argatroban in treating AIS by extracting available data from existing studies.
We have searched database PubMed, Embase, Science, Medline, and Cochrane Library to retrieve all of the studies associated with argatroban and AIS. Only randomized controlled clinical studies were screened for this review. Meta-analysis methodology was used and the standard mean difference values and 95% confidence intervals were estimated to get final results.
Only four studies that met the criteria were included in our review, which contained a total of 354 cases with 213 cases in the argatroban group and 141 in the control group. The overall analysis showed that patients with AIS did not improve more with argatroban treatment. And argatroban did not increase the bleeding risk in AIS patients.
Our study that integrated the existing data suggested that patients with AIS might not benefit more from argatroban and combination therapy with argatroban will not increase bleeding tendency.
More high-quality studies are needed for further evaluation of the efficacy and safety of argatroban in treating AIS.