LAUSR

OBJECTIVE This study investigates whether medication therapy alone is as effective and safe as percutaneous revascularization (PR) in patients with atherosclerotic renal artery stenosis (ARAS). MATERIALS AND METHODS The Embase, PubMed, and Cochrane Library databases were searched from their inception to July 31, 2021, for randomized controlled trials (RCTs) reporting PR for ARAS. RevMan 5.3 was employed to analyze the retrieved articles. RESULTS Eight studies with a total of 2,225 ARAS patients were included in this analysis, demonstrating that PR and medication therapy alone had a similar effect on both systolic [mean difference (MD)= 0.19, 95% CI: -1.64- 2.02] and diastolic blood pressure (MD= -0.44, 95% CI: -1.68-0.80). Meanwhile, there were no differences in all-cause mortality [Odds ratio (OR) = 0.89, 95% CI: 0.70-1.14], stroke (OR = 0.84, 95% CI: 0.55-1.31), congestive heart failure (OR = 0.89, 95% CI: 0.67-1.19), and perioperative complications (OR = 0.87, 95% CI: 0.68-1.12). CONCLUSIONS Medication therapy alone is as effective and safe as PR.