Effect of revascularization on IL-6 and TNF-α in patients with thromboangiitis obliterans

The aim of the study was to investigate the effects of revascularization in treating patients with thromboangiitis obliterans (TAO), to analyze the prognosis of TAO. The treatment group comprised 32 patients with TAO of lower limbs who were selected between March 2012 and March 2017. Patients in the treatment group were treated with revascularization (vascular bypass surgery, catheter-directed thrombolysis and angioplasty, endovascular angioplasty + stening, thromboectomy and/or endarterectomy) + Western medicine. Another 33 patients with TAO who were treated with Western medicine alone comprised the control group. Treatment outcomes were compared between the groups. Serum levels of interleukin-6 (IL-6), interleukin-8 (IL-8) and tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α) were also detected and compared between the groups. Multivariate analysis was performed to identify the factors related to prognosis. Compared with control group, treatment outcomes were significantly better in the treatment group (P<0.05). After treatment, the serum levels of IL-6, IL-8 and TNF-α significantly decreased in both groups, and the decrease in the treatment group was more significant (P<0.01). Multivariate analysis revealed that vascular bypass surgery and preoperative ischemic degree are associated with treatment effect. Our results show that revascularization treatment of TAO is conducive to clinical symptoms and dysfunction of inflammatory cytokines, and the type of surgery and surgical timing significantly affect treatment outcomes.