If so, they can conduct an angioplasty. During an angioplasty, the surgeon uses the long tube to insert and expand a balloon to prop open the vein. They may also insert a small device called a stent to keep the vein from narrowing again. If preexisting conditions prevent you from taking anticoagulants, your healthcare provider may recommend an inferior vena cava filter.
This small, wiry device is inserted through a catheter placed in a vein in your groin or neck. The device is placed inside a large vein known as the inferior vena cava. Blood from the lower body flows back to the heart through this important vein. The heart then pumps blood to your lungs, where it picks up the oxygen it needs. The vena cava filter works to catch blood clots before they travel to the lungs and cause a pulmonary embolism.
The device is able to do this because of its umbrella-like design, which allows it to expand and stick to the walls of the vein. The filter can stay in the body permanently or be removed after some time. While helpful, it doesn't reduce the size of the blood clot or prevent new ones from forming. Lifestyle changes are an important part of DVT treatment and prevention.
DVT is treated with anticoagulants, which block further clotting to stop the clot from growing larger. They also work to prevent the clot from breaking off and traveling to the lungs, causing a pulmonary embolism, and to reduce the risk of long-term complications such as chronic venous insufficiency. Graduated compression stockings help to relieve leg swelling due to DVT.
Compression stockings are knee-high socks that are tight at the ankle and become looser as they go up the leg, causing gentle pressure to help move blood back toward the heart. DVT blood clots can take weeks to months to break down. Treatment with anticoagulants typically lasts for three to six months. Sign up for our Health Tip of the Day newsletter, and receive daily tips that will help you live your healthiest life. Deep vein thrombosis: Pathogenesis, diagnosis, and medical management.
Cardiovasc Diagn The r. Cleveland Clinic. American Society of Hematology guidelines for management of venous thromboembolism: Treatment of deep vein thrombosis and pulmonary embolism. Blood Adv. LeWine, Howard. Are the new blood thinners better than warfarin Coumadin? Harvard Health Publishing. December, Anticoagulation during pregnancy: Evolving strategies with a focus on mechanical valves. J Am Coll Cardiol. Compression stockings for preventing deep vein thrombosis in airline passengers.
Cochrane Database Syst Rev. Reduced incidence of vein occlusion and postthrombotic syndrome after immediate compression for deep vein thrombosis. Muck PE. Catheter-directed thrombolytic therapy. Society for Vascular Surgery. Inferior vena cava placement. Johns Hopkins Medicine. Deep vein thrombosis. Cabral K, Ansell J. The role of factor Xa inhibitors in venous thromboembolism treatment.
Vasc Health Risk Manag. Oral direct thrombin inhibitors or oral factor Xa inhibitors for the treatment of deep vein thrombosis. Cochrane Vascular Group. Your Privacy Rights. This damage leads to the pooling of blood and high venous pressures, causing conditions such as chronic venous insufficiency, varicose veins , or chronic ulcers.
This condition is called post-thrombotic syndrome or post-phlebitic limb. These conditions predispose you to an increased risk of future DVTs. In instances where the clot is not reabsorbed, there is a risk that the blood clot can break free and travel to the heart and brain. This can lead to stroke, heart attack or an embolism in the lung pulmonary embolism.
Occasionally DVT can be very severe and affect the deep and superficial veins. The clot can be severe enough to critically impair the drainage and flow of blood, which can cause venous gangrene. This potentially-life threatening condition commonly has an underlying cause of cancer or a clotting disorder. Fortunately, if you are in certain risk groups, or have experienced events that commonly cause DVT such as surgery or air travel , you can be proactive in understanding of the state of your venous health, and your risk of developing a DVT, through regular checkups with your GP and vascular surgeon.
If you are experiencing localised symptoms of a DVT swelling in one or both legs, redness, and possibly, pain , visit the emergency department immediately.
Provide any information that may help diagnose a DVT, such as recent flights, long journeys, immobility, surgery, use of hormones and medications, having a sedentary lifestyle, or other related vascular conditions.
These severe symptoms could be indicative of a life-threatening stroke, heart attack or pulmonary embolism. Blood clot breakage: If a piece of blood clot breaks off from the veins in the legs and travels along the veins to the lungs, it can be fatal in a small number of people, and if not fatal, can make some people seriously ill.
Valve damage and subsequent vascular illness: The buildup of a clot can be both caused by vein damage, and cause further vein damage. This may cause significant problems in the legs in the future. Treatment is important to correct abnormal blood flow in the veins to prevent more serious or widespread vascular disease.
The risk of worsening vascular damage is higher for patients that are overweight, have previous thromboses, or are older women. If you do not treat your DVT and underlying causes for the formation of the DVT, the risks of developing life-threatening conditions such as stroke, heart attack, pulmonary embolism or venous gangrene are higher.
If the wall of a blood vessel is damaged, it may become narrowed or blocked, which can cause a blood clot to form. Blood vessels can be damaged by injuries such as broken bones or severe muscle damage. Sometimes, blood vessel damage that occurs during surgery can cause a blood clot, particularly in operations on the lower half of your body. Conditions such as vasculitis inflammation of the blood vessels , varicose veins and some forms of medication, such as chemotherapy , can also damage blood vessels.
Your risk of getting DVT is increased if you have a condition that causes your blood to clot more easily than normal. These conditions include:. During pregnancy, blood clots more easily.
It's the body's way of preventing too much blood being lost during childbirth. DVTs are also rare in pregnancy, although pregnant women are up to 10 times more likely to develop thrombosis than non-pregnant women of the same age. A clot can form at any stage of pregnancy and up to 6 weeks after the birth. Having thrombophilia a condition where the blood has an increased tendency to clot , or having a parent, or brother or sister, who's had a thrombosis, increase your risk of developing a DVT during pregnancy.
LMWH is an anticoagulant, which means it prevents the blood clot getting bigger. It's given by injection and doesn't affect your developing baby. The combined contraceptive pill and hormone replacement therapy HRT both contain the female hormone oestrogen.
Oestrogen causes the blood to clot a bit more easily than normal, so your risk of getting DVT is slightly increased. There's no increased risk from the progestogen-only contraceptive pill. Anticoagulant medicines prevent blood clots getting bigger. They can also help stop part of the blood clot breaking off and becoming lodged in another part of your bloodstream an embolism.
Although they're often referred to as "blood-thinning" medicines, anticoagulants don't actually thin the blood. They alter proteins within it, which prevents clots forming so easily. Heparin and warfarin are 2 types of anticoagulants that are used to treat DVT. After this initial treatment, you may also need to take warfarin to prevent another blood clot forming. The dose of standard unfractionated heparin to treat a blood clot varies significantly from person to person, so the dosage must be carefully monitored and adjusted if necessary.
You may need to stay in hospital for 5 to 10 days and have frequent blood tests to ensure you receive the right dose. LMWH works differently from standard heparin. It contains small molecules, which means its effects are more reliable and you won't have to stay in hospital and be monitored.
In rare cases, heparin can also cause an extreme reaction that makes existing blood clots worse and causes new clots to develop. This reaction, and weakening of your bones, is less likely to occur when taking LMWH. Warfarin is taken as a tablet. You may need to take it after initial treatment with heparin to prevent further blood clots occurring. Your doctor may recommend that you take warfarin for 3 to 6 months.
In some cases, it may need to be taken for longer, even for life. As with standard heparin, the effects of warfarin vary from person to person. You'll need to be closely monitored by having frequent blood tests to ensure you're taking the right dosage. When you first start taking warfarin, you may need to have 2 to 3 blood tests a week until your regular dose is decided. After this, you should only need to have a blood test every 4 weeks at an anticoagulant outpatient clinic.
Warfarin can be affected by your diet, any other medicines you're taking, and by how well your liver is working. Warfarin isn't recommended for pregnant women who are given heparin injections for the full length of treatment. Rivaroxaban comes in tablet form. It's a type of anticoagulant known as a directly acting oral anticoagulant DOAC. It prevents blood clots forming by inhibiting a substance called factor Xa and restricting the formation of thrombin an enzyme that helps blood clot.
Treatment usually lasts 3 months and involves taking rivaroxaban twice a day for the first 21 days and then once a day until the end of the course. Read the NICE guidance about rivaroxaban. Like rivaroxaban, apixaban is a DOAC that's taken orally as a tablet, and prevents blood clots forming by hindering factor Xa and restricting the formation of thrombin.
Read the NICE guidance about apixaban. Wearing compression stockings helps prevent calf pain and swelling, and lowers the risk of ulcers developing after having DVT.
They can also help prevent post-thrombotic syndrome. This is damage to leg tissue caused by the increase in venous pressure that occurs when a vein is blocked by a clot and blood is diverted to the outer veins. After having DVT, stockings should be worn every day for at least 2 years. This is because symptoms of post-thrombotic syndrome may develop several months or even years after having a DVT.
Compression stockings should be fitted professionally and your prescription should be reviewed every 3 to 6 months. The stockings need to be worn all day but can be taken off before going to bed or in the evening while you rest with your leg raised. A spare pair of compression stockings should also be provided. Your healthcare team will usually advise you to walk regularly once compression stockings have been prescribed.
This can help prevent symptoms of DVT returning and may help to improve or prevent complications of DVT, such as post-thrombotic syndrome. As well as wearing compression stockings, you might be advised to raise your leg whenever you're resting.
This helps to relieve the pressure in the veins of the calf and stops blood and fluid pooling in the calf itself. When raising your leg, make sure your foot is higher than your hip.
This will help the returning blood flow from your calf. Putting a cushion underneath your leg while you're lying down should help raise your leg above the level of your hip. You can also slightly raise the end of your bed to ensure that your foot and calf are slightly higher than your hip. Although anticoagulant medicines and compression stockings are usually the only treatments needed for DVT, inferior vena cava IVC filters may be used as an alternative.
This is usually because anticoagulant treatment needs to be stopped, isn't suitable, or isn't working. IVC filters are small mesh devices that can be placed in a vein. They trap large fragments of a blood clot and stop it travelling to the heart and lungs. They can be used to help prevent blood clots developing in the legs of people diagnosed with:.
IVCs can be placed in the vein permanently, or newer types of filters can be placed temporarily and removed after the risk of a blood clot has decreased. The procedure to insert an IVC filter is carried out using a local anaesthetic where you're awake but the area is numb.
A small cut is made in the skin and a catheter thin, flexible tube is inserted into a vein in the neck or groin area. The catheter is guided using an ultrasound scan. The IVC filter is then inserted through the catheter and into the vein. The two main complications of deep vein thrombosis DVT are pulmonary embolism and post-thrombotic syndrome.
A pulmonary embolism is the most serious complication of DVT. It happens when a piece of blood clot DVT breaks off and travels through your bloodstream to your lungs, where it blocks one of the blood vessels.
In severe cases this can be fatal. If the clot is small, it might not cause any symptoms.
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