Efficacy and safety of mechanical thrombectomy for cardioembolic stroke: A protocol for systematic review and meta-analysis

BACKGROUND: Several randomized clinical trials have demonstrated the safety and efficiency of mechanical thrombectomy in the management of acute ischaemic stroke caused by larger vessel occlusion. According to the trial of Org 10172 in Acute Stroke Treatment (TOAST) classification, acute ischaemic stroke can be divided into cardioembolic stroke and non-cardioembolic stroke. Previous studies have shown that mechanical thrombectomy in cardioembolic stroke with intracranial large artery occlusion has a poor prognosis. The reason may be that the old emboli are hard, making it difficult to remove. However, recent evidence shows that mechanical thrombectomy is also effective and safe in patients with cardioembolic stroke. Therefore, the aim of this study is to evaluate the efficacy and safety of mechanical thrombectomy for cardioembolic stroke. METHODS: The electronic database, including PubMed, Cochrane Library, EMBASE, the China National Knowledge Infrastructure (CNKI), China Biology Medicine disc (CBM), VIP database, and Wan-fang database, were thoroughly retrieved from inception to December 1, 2021, without language restrictions. All randomized controlled trials that evaluated the efficacy and safety of mechanical thrombectomy in the treatment of cardioembolic stroke will be included. Primary outcomes will include vascular recanalization rate and score scale. Two authors will independently scan the articles searched, extract the data from articles included, and assess the risk of bias by Cochrane tool of risk of bias. Disagreements will be resolved by discussion among authors. All analysis will be performed based on the Cochrane Handbook for Systematic Reviews of Interventions. Dichotomous variables will be reported as risk ratio or odds ratio with 95% confidence intervals and continuous variables will be summarized as mean difference or standard mean difference with 95% confidence intervals. RESULTS: This review will be to assess the efficacy and safety of mechanical thrombectomy for cardioembolic stroke. CONCLUSIONS: The results of our findings may be helpful for clinicians and health professionals to re-examine the clinical decision-making in the treatment of cardioembolic stroke, promising way for treatment of patients with cardioembolic stroke. SYSTEMATIC REVIEW REGISTRATION NUMBER: INPLASY2020120035