Percutaneous Thrombectomy for the Treatment of Lower Extremity Deep Vein Thrombosis: Medium-Term Follow-up Results and Analysis of 112 Cases

Introduction The aim of this study was to analyze percutaneous thrombectomy (PT) outcomes for the management of lower extremity deep vein thrombosis (DVT) with medium-term follow-up. Methods The study included charts of patients who underwent PT due to lower extremity DVT between August 2017 and March 2021. Patient characteristics and procedure outcomes were recorded in the electronic information system on the same day as the procedure. The procedures with complete removal of thrombus following PT without requiring additional procedure or additional thrombectomy apparatus were considered successful. Also, duration of follow-up was noted. Results In total, 112 patients were enrolled in the study. The femoropopliteal (40.2%) and iliofemoral (25.0%) veins were the most common sites with thrombus detected. The duration of PT procedure and fluoroscopy were 123.1 minutes and 21.9 minutes, respectively. Estimated blood loss was 255.1 milliliters. The hospital stay and intensive care unit stay following PT were 3.7 and 1.4 days, respectively. Major hemorrhage did not occur in any patient, but we encountered bradycardia in six (5.4%) patients, acute renal failure in one (0.9%) patient, hemoglobinuria in 11 (9.8%) patients, leg pain in 15 (13.4%) patients, and pulmonary embolism in 2 (1.8) patients, respectively. Success of the present study was 94.6% in the first month, and re-operation was required only in one patient. The mean follow-up period was 21.1 months with 90.2% venous patency rates. Conclusion The present study demonstrated that PT was an effective and reliable treatment modality with acceptable complication rates for the treatment of lower extremity DVT. Additionally, the efficacy of PT was proven by mid-term follow-up results.