Endovascular Thrombus Removal for Treating Post-Partum Iliofemoral Deep Vein Thrombosis: A Single-Centre Retrospective Cohort Study

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the safety and efficacy of percutaneous thrombectomy for treating postpartum iliofemoral vein thrombosis. METHODS: A retrospective analysis was performed on patients with continuous postpartum acute symptomatic iliofemoral deep vein thrombosis who were treated in our center, including all patients who underwent pharmacomechanical thrombolysis (PMT) or only catheter-directed thrombolysis (CDT) (study group), and patients that received simple anticoagulation treatment (control group). We evaluated the incidence of lower extremity postthrombotic syndrome, recanalization rate of lower extremity veins, and complications in the study and control groups. RESULTS: Overall, 72 postpartum women were included in this study, including the PMT combined with CDT group (14 cases, 15 limbs), CDT alone group (26 cases, 27 limbs), and anticoagulant therapy alone group (32 cases, 34 limbs). The thrombectomy group completed the treatment with a technical success rate of 100%, and no serious bleeding complications occurred. The patency rate of lower limb veins in the thrombectomy group was 85.09 ± 16.51% after treatment and 82.60 ± 21.45% after 1 year. At the 1-year follow-up, the Villalta score in the study group was lower (1.90 ± 2.45 vs 8.50 ± 5.33, P < .001), and the incidence of postthrombotic syndrome was significantly different between the groups (17.50% in the study group vs 68.75% in the anticoagulant group, P < .001). CONCLUSIONS: Lower extremity venous thrombectomy is a safe and effective treatment for postpartum iliofemoral venous thrombosis. It can improve the patency rate of lower extremity veins and reduce the incidence of postthrombotic syndrome compared with anticoagulation alone.