RETRACTED ARTICLE: New insight of the efficacy trimetazidine in patients with peripheral arterial disease: a meta-analysis

Background This review aims to examine the impact of trimetazidine on skeletal muscle function in patients suffering from peripheral artery disease (PAD). Methods We searched for studies, both experimental and observational research, concerning the comparison of trimetazidine administration to placebo/standard of care in patients with PAD in PubMed, ScienceDirect, and Cochrane. Meta-analyses of the included studies were performed using Review Manager v5.4. Clinical parameters [ankle-brachial index (ABI) and maximum walking distance (MWD)] were analyzed. Results Three observational studies involving 378 participants with PAD satisfied predefined criteria. There was no substantial difference between the examined groups’ on ABI (pre- and post-intervention) (MD = − 0.06 [− 0.19 to 0.07], p = 0.38, I 2 = 90%). Meanwhile, MWD improvement was significantly higher (MD = 14.15 [6.05–22.25], p = 0.0006, I 2 = 37%) in trimetazidine group than in the control group. Conclusions Current evidence from our meta-analysis suggests the beneficial role of trimetazidine's anti-ischemic effect in PAD patients by improving MWD, while it has an insignificant influence on ABI.