The right blend of treatment for deep vein thrombosis

17 October 2014

The right blend of treatment for deep vein thrombosis

Vascular surgeons at Wellington Hospital are pioneering a new safer, faster treatment for patients with deep vein thrombosis in New Zealand.

Deep vein thrombosis (DVT) describes a clot that forms in deep leg veins, interrupting blood flow. It affects people of all ages and can occur with little warning.

The most obvious symptoms are pain and swelling at the back of the legs that doesn’t go away. DVT can be fatal if untreated and it is a leading cause of maternal mortality.

Vascular surgeon Mr Kes Wicks says the new treatment, known as isolated pharmacomechanical thrombolysis, means patients avoid multiple trips to theatre and at least 72 hours spent lying on their front.

“Basically, we isolate the clot between two balloons and use a small wire to blend it up, then we suck it back out instead of waiting for it to dissolve on its own.”

The speed of the treatment also reduces the risk of post-thrombotic syndrome, which is the biggest cost associated with DVT.

Patient Walter Gordon says he knew nothing about DVT, “until I woke up one morning with a leg twice as big as the other”.

The Upper Hutt man was one of the first patients in New Zealand to receive the combined therapy.

“It was quite an interesting sensation but I felt no pain at all,” Mr Gordon says. “I was discharged the next day and well enough to go out for dinner with my family.”

While Mr Gordon was only required to stay in hospital overnight, Mr Wicks says many of these patients can be safely treated with a day procedure, instead of hospital admission.

“The goal for us is that the patient comes into the outpatient department for treatment and they go home 45 minutes later,” he says.

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