A new technique for effective removal of lower extremity deep vein thrombosis

       Recently, the Department of Vascular Surgery of Xuanwu Hospital of Capital Medical University successfully performed a case of minimally invasive interventional catheter aspiration of lower limb deep vein thrombosis with the most advanced Aspirex aspiration catheter, completely removing the thrombus in the patient’s lower limb deep vein. The patient, a 73-year-old woman, suddenly developed severe swelling of the left lower extremity in the past 2 days and was diagnosed with “acute left lower extremity deep vein thrombosis”. The standard treatment for lower extremity DVT is anticoagulation therapy, which can prevent the thrombus from increasing; in large hospitals where available, some patients can be treated with thrombolysis via catheter insertion into the thrombus, which means that the formed thrombus can be dissolved directly with drugs; for some patients who may have thrombus dislodged and lead to pulmonary embolism, an inferior vena cava filter can be placed to prevent pulmonary embolism. However, these treatment options are not completely effective in clearing the large amount of thrombus formed in the veins of the lower extremities, and a large amount of thrombus will remain even if thrombolytic therapy is performed. As a result, the thrombus in the deep vein remains blocked and the valve is destroyed, resulting in significant lower limb edema after the acute phase in a large number of patients, which gradually develops into skin pigmentation, skin thickening and hardening, and recurrent ulcers, commonly known as “old rotten leg”. Under local anesthesia, we inserted a special thrombus-absorbing catheter by puncturing the affected N vein and completely removed the fresh thrombus in the iliac, femoral and N veins of the patient’s left lower limb under fluoroscopy, and found that the patient had left iliac vein compression syndrome and gave stent treatment at the same time. The patient’s symptoms were improved immediately after the operation, and the swelling of the affected limb basically disappeared completely on the second day after the operation. The Aspirex catheter is the most advanced thrombus removal device in the world, which can completely remove a large amount of thrombus through a single puncture point in just about an hour, and at the same time, the deep vein of the affected limb is completely restored to patency, avoiding recurrence of thrombosis and allowing early movement to the ground. It can also prevent “old leg” from appearing later. This new technology will undoubtedly bring new light to the treatment of lower limb deep vein thrombosis.