Vascular Specialists now provides a groundbreaking treatment for DVT

If you’ve been on bed rest, had surgery or been sitting in a car or on an airplane for hours, you may be at risk of deep vein thrombosis (DVT). DVT is a blood clot that forms in your deep veins, usually your thigh or calf but not uncommon in your arm. DVT can be life-threatening, as clots can break loose, travel through your veins and lodge in your lungs, blocking blood flow. 

Over 50% of people do not experience symptoms of DVT and aren’t aware of it until they experience a pulmonary embolism. When you develop a DVT, you may experience:

• Swelling in your foot, ankle or leg or arm or hand, on one side of your body
• Cramping pain in calf, neck or shoulder
• Skin that feels warm to the touch
• Skin that goes pale, reddish or bluish in color
• Severe, unexplained pain in foot, ankle, hand or arm
• Weakness in the hand

Other risk factors for DVT include:

• Genetic blood-clotting disorder
• Injury to your veins
• Pregnancy and up to six weeks after birth
• Overweight or obese
• Smoking
• Cancer
• Heart failure
• Crohn’s disease, ulcerative colitis or other inflammatory bowel disease
• Family history of DVT
• Older than age 60

When you suspect you have a DVT, or if you have any risk factors, you’ll need immediate screening. If a DVT is found, treatment should started as soon as possible. 

For decades, DVT has been treated with thrombolytic drugs, but this method increase your risk of bleeding. Alternative procedures have typically required an ICU stay.

Now, Vascular Specialists now offers a groundbreaking, superior treatment for DVT, ClotTriever®.

ClotTriever® is an entirely new thrombectomy system which uses a mechanical device to remove large firm-to-hard clots from 6-16mm veins in your legs and arms. It is completed in just a single procedure and there is no need for thrombolytic drugs or an ICU stay.

ClotTriever® procedure is minimally invasive, requiring just a small incision into the affected vein below the clot.

When you experience a DVT and your Vascular Specialists surgeon performs a ClotTriever procedure, you will benefit from:

• no need for thrombolytic drugs
• no ICU stay
• immediate symptom improvement
• single session treatment
• minimal blood loss
• minimal risk of bleeding

Nearly every patient is a perfect candidate for ClotTriever®, even if you have chronic health conditions such as:

• peripheral artery disease 
  
• heart disease
• diabetes
• high blood pressure
• obesity

The ClotTriever® procedure is simple and works like this: 

• A guide wire is inserted into the vein and advanced through the clot. 
• The ClotTriever® Sheath is inserted over the guide wire and positioned below the clot. 
• A mesh funnel expands to ensure as much of the clot as possible is removed. 
• The ClotTriever® Catheter is advanced through the Sheath past the clot.
• A coring element and collection bag expand, filling the vein from wall to wall. 
• The catheter and coring element are pulled back, collecting the clot.
• The clot filled bag and coring element are further pulled back into the mesh funnel where the bag collapses and elongates for removal. 
• The catheter is withdrawn, removing the clot from the body. 
• Any remaining clot in the sheath is aspirated and removed.
• The ClotTriever® device is removed and your incision is closed. 

Vascular Specialists is the only vascular practice with fellowship-trained, board-certified vascular and endovascular surgeons in the Chicago Southland, and the very first to provide patients with this FDA-approved ClotTriever procedure. This procedure is an astounding improvement over previous treatments and over 6,000 procedures have been successfully completed in the United State. 

When you or your physician suspects you have DVT, call us at 815-824-4406 to ask about the ClotTriever procedure. Your Vascular Specialists surgeon is happy to answer all of your questions to keep you healthy and well.