Blood Clots
DEEP VENUOUS DISEASE:
Deep venous thrombosis (DVT) is a blood clot in the deep veins of an extremity, usually the calf, thigh or pelvis. It may cause symptoms such as pain or swelling or no symptoms at all. DVT also puts a person at greater risk for pulmonary embolism, a potentially life-threatening blood clot in the arteries that supply blood to the lungs.
Most DVT is treated with medicine alone, but extensive DVT may require some form of interventional treatment. At LAIIC, our interventional radiologists safely treat deep venous disease using procedures including:
Deep Vein Thrombolysis
Thrombolysis is a minimally invasive treatment to break up or dissolve blood clots, often in the legs or arms. The procedure improves blood flow and reduces the risk of complication from clots such as pulmonary embolism, a life-threatening condition in which a blood clot travels through the bloodstream to the lungs.
What are the benefits?
- Eliminates a blood clot, restoring proper blood flow
- Relieves blood clot symptoms such as swelling, pain, cramping and tenderness
How does the procedure work?
Using X-ray or ultrasound imaging guidance, your interventional radiologist will insert a catheter through a tiny nick in the skin, into a blood vessel in the leg. The catheter is advanced to the vein containing the clot. The catheter tip is inserted into the clot, where it releases a clot-busting drug that causes the clot to dissolve in a day or two. In some cases, a catheter-based mechanical device may be used to remove the clot directly or in conjunction with a clot-busting medication.
Future clots may be prevented with the use of balloon angioplasty or stent placement or the insertion of an IVC filter, a small device that helps capture blood clots. You may stay a few days in the hospital after the procedure, depending on the severity and location of the clot.
Pulmonary Thrombolysis
Without treatment, a blood clot (DVT) in the leg can break off, travel through the bloodstream, and get trapped in the lungs -- a life-threatening condition known as pulmonary embolism. Pulmonary thrombolysis is a procedure similar to deep vein thrombolysis, but used to break up clots that have already moved to the lungs.
What are the benefits?
- Eliminates a blood clot, restoring oxygen supply from the lungs to the heart
- Appropriate therapy for pulmonary embolism can greatly increase a person's chances of surviving the disease
How does the procedure work?
Using X-ray or ultrasound imaging guidance, your interventional radiologist will insert a catheter through a tiny nick in the skin, into a blood vessel in the leg. The catheter is advanced to the lungs. The catheter tip is inserted into the clot, where it releases a clot-busting drug that causes the clot to dissolve in a day or two. Most patients undergoing this procedure are already hospitalized because of the serious nature of pulmonary embolism.
IVC Filter
An IVC filter is a temporary and removable medical device placed in the inferior vena cava (IVC), a large vein in the abdomen. The filter will trap a migrating blood clot and decrease the risk of these clots in the legs moving up to the lungs -- a life-threatening condition called pulmonary embolism.
IVC filters are often used for patients who:
- Suffer from blood clots in the legs, including deep vein thrombosis (DVT)
- Will be experiencing prolonged bed rest due to surgery or trauma
- Cannot receive anticoagulation medication for medical reasons