Restoration of Venous Patency in Thrombosis of the Caval Veins

Abstract

This paper describes the results of treatment of 15 patients with inferior vena cava thrombosis. Thrombolysis using urokinase was the method of choice (12 patients) unless there were contraindications when thrombectomy (three patients) was performed. Thrombolytic therapy produced complete clearance of the inferior vena cava in eight of the 12 patients and partial clearance in the remaining four. Thrombolysis was terminated because of minor bleeding complications in four. Thrombectomy was done in three patients in whom there were contraindications to thrombolytic therapy. We believe that thrombolysis is a feasible method of treatment and possibly the method of choice when the thrombus is older than 3 days and the patient's general state is poor.