Treatment for Venous Thromboembolism

Treatment Options

Our multidisciplinary team of cardiologists, hematologists, pulmonologists, radiologists, emergency medicine physicians and vascular surgeons collaborate together to recommend the right treatment strategy for your individual condition(s).

Lifestyle Modifications and Medication

Managing your health is an important first step in successful treatment. There are lifestyle changes that can help to improve overall health, including maintaining a healthy weight, making exercise a regular part of the day, joining a smoking cessation group and wearing compression socks to improve blood flow through the legs. 

In addition to lifestyle changes, your physician may also prescribe medications such as anticoagulants (blood thinners), and/or thrombolytic drugs, which are very potent clot-dissolving enzymes that work to break down the clot and restore normal blood flow.

Minimally Invasive Procedures

• Inferior Vena Cava Filters: Inferior vena cava (IVC) filters can be used to trap blood clots in the IVC and prevent the clot from breaking off or traveling to other parts of the body. When it is no longer needed, the filters can (and should) be removed.
• Catheter-directed thrombolytic drug delivery: This procedure uses image-guided technology to insert a small catheter into the blood vessels to deliver targeted medication directly into the blood clot. This method may allow for lower dosages of medication to be used, minimizing side effects such as bleeding.
• Percutaneous thrombectomy: Through catheterization, a small, thin tube (catheter) is placed into the vessel near the embolism. With image-guided technology, the catheter is used to remove the thrombus.
• Venous/IVC recanalization: When vessels are blocked from clot for a long time, the vein may ultimately scar. In these circumstances, physicians may perform recanalization to create a new channel or path in the vessel to restore blood flow. This procedure is typically done minimally invasively using image-guided technology.

Surgical Procedures

• Thrombectomy/embolectomy: Surgical thrombectomy or embolectomy is performed by making a small incision into a blood vessel near the thrombus in order to remove it and allow blood to flow freely. If the vessel is damaged, a balloon or stent may be inserted to keep the vessel open for blood flow.
• Venous/IVC reconstruction: When vessels, such as the inferior vena cava, have extensive damage, surgical reconstruction may be necessary to create a new path in the vessel to restore blood flow.