A Leizorovicz

Dr A Leizorovicz, Service de Pharmacologie Clinique, Lyon, France; al@upcl.univ-lyon1.fr

STUDY DESIGN

Design:

randomised placebo controlled trial (Limbs International Medicinal Buflomedil [LIMB]).

Allocation:

concealed.*

Blinding:

blinded (patients and outcome assessors).*

STUDY QUESTION

Setting:

123 centres in the Czech Republic, France, Hungary, and Russia.

Patients:

2078 patients who were 40–90 years of age (median age 61 y, 80% men) and had documented peripheral arterial obstructive disease (PAD) and an ankle-brachial index at rest >0.30 and ⩽0.80. Exclusion criteria were ischaemic rest pain, ulceration or gangrene, iliac or common femoral artery stenosis or occlusion, arterial occlusion of embolic origin, Buerger disease or any non-atherosclerotic arterial disease of …