[Chronic treatment of vascular diseases with indobufen]

The effects of chronic treatment with indobufen, an inhibitor of platelet aggregation, was studied in a group of 1428 patients with vascular problems treated in a period of about 6 years in our Units. Venous problems were the major vascular problem in 313 patients, peripheral vascular diseases in 553 and cerebrovascular problems in 562. In patients with venous problems the range of the treatment period in different groups of patients varied from 2 to 42 months. The range was from 1 to 48 months in the group of patients with peripheral vascular diseases and from 2 to 48 in patients with cerebrovascular diseases. An analogic score was used to evaluate the efficacy of indobufen, which was also compared for the occurrence of side-effects with ASA (acetylsalicylic acid) and dipyridamole. Results obtained in this large, chronic open study confirmed the efficacy of indobufen in preventing (or reducing the occurrence) of vascular problems which was significantly greater than that observed with the other two drugs used for comparison. Indobufen also resulted in a lower incidence of side-effects (particularly gastrointestinal disorders) and it was better tolerated than both dipyridamole and ASA.