Kleijnen J, Mackerras D
NHS Centre for Reviews and Dissemination, University of York, Heslington, York, North Yorkshire, UK, YO10 5DD.
Cochrane Database Syst Rev. 2000;1998(2):CD000987. doi: 10.1002/14651858.CD000987.
It is thought that vitamin E may improve tolerance to intermittent claudication (i.e. pain caused by ischaemia in the muscles of the leg during exercise), thereby relieving the pain, through a variety of mechanisms.
The objective of this review was to determine the effects of vitamin E on people with intermittent claudication.
The reviewers searched the Cochrane Peripheral Vascular Diseases Group trials register, reference lists of relevant articles and a library specialising in literature on vitamins.
Controlled trials comparing vitamin E with placebo, or other interventions, in patients with intermittent claudication.
Both reviewers extracted data and assessed study quality independently.
Five eligible studies were found with a total of 265, predominantly male, participants. The average age was 57 years. The follow-up varied from 12 weeks to 18 months. The trials were small and generally of poor quality. The people studied were reasonably homogeneous but five different doses of vitamin E were used and four different physical outcomes were measured. No trials were identified that compared vitamin E with treatments other than placebo. All trials showed positive effects on one of their main outcomes. No serious adverse effects of vitamin E were reported. Two trials that lasted approximately eight months and used similar doses reported patients' subjective evaluation of the treatment. The relative risk for the combined results of these two trials using a random effects model was 0.57 with a 95% confidence interval of 0.28 to 1.15.
REVIEWER'S CONCLUSIONS: While vitamin E - which is inexpensive and has had no serious side effects reported with its use - may have beneficial effects, there is insufficient evidence to determine whether it is an effective treatment for intermittent claudication.
人们认为维生素E可能通过多种机制改善对间歇性跛行（即运动期间腿部肌肉缺血引起的疼痛）的耐受性，从而缓解疼痛。
本综述的目的是确定维生素E对间歇性跛行患者的影响。
综述作者检索了Cochrane外周血管疾病小组试验注册库、相关文章的参考文献列表以及一家专门收藏维生素文献的图书馆。
在间歇性跛行患者中比较维生素E与安慰剂或其他干预措施的对照试验。
两位综述作者独立提取数据并评估研究质量。
共找到5项符合条件的研究，总计265名参与者，以男性为主。平均年龄为57岁。随访时间从12周至18个月不等。这些试验规模较小且质量普遍较差。所研究的人群具有相当的同质性，但使用了5种不同剂量的维生素E，并测量了4种不同的身体指标。未发现将维生素E与安慰剂以外的治疗方法进行比较的试验。所有试验均显示其主要指标之一有积极效果。未报告维生素E有严重不良反应。两项持续约8个月且使用相似剂量的试验报告了患者对治疗的主观评价。采用随机效应模型对这两项试验的合并结果进行分析，相对风险为0.57，95%置信区间为0.28至1.15。
尽管维生素E价格低廉且使用中未报告有严重副作用，可能具有有益效果，但尚无足够证据确定它是否是治疗间歇性跛行的有效方法。
