ABSTRACT
In patients with peripheral arterial disease pharmacological interventions are often prescribed to postpone the need for more interventional procedures. One such pharmacological intervention is pentoxifylline, which it is claimed, improves blood flow. The potential beneficial effect of this therapy, however, has been a matter of intense debate. In 1992 the results of a clinical trial that addressed this topic were published. In this trial 40 patients with peripheral arterial disease were randomized to either pentoxifylline or placebo. A difference in blood viscosity was shown between the two groups and more importantly, the maximal pain-free walking distance in the patients receiving pentoxifylline was significantly longer than in those patients receiving placebo (P <0. 001). Based on this finding, the authors concluded that pentoxifylline was clinically effective in patients with claudication. However, close examination of the data reveals that the absolute difference in maximal walking distance between the groups was only three and a half feet, which most doctors (and more importantly their patients) would consider to be not clinically significant.
