A Deep Vein Thrombosis (DVT) is essentially a blood clot that occurs deep in a vein. Early treatment can help in:
- Preventing the clot from growing, which can lead to serious complications
- Keeping the clot from breaking off and traveling to other organs such as the lung
- Avoiding serious and/or long-lasting complications such as a pulmonary embolism (blockage of a major blood vessel in the lung)
- Preventing future blood clots
Treatment typically involve medication and self-care, however sometimes a DVT may require surgery. Below are some of the medical treatment options for a DVT.
Blood Thinners
Also referred to as anticoagulants, this is the most common treatment for DVT. Despite its name, blood thinners do not thin your blood, nor can they dissolve an existing clot. Instead, they prevent a clot from growing or breaking off and help stop future blood clots from forming.
Blood thinners include medicines such as:
Common treatment of DVT include taking by a needle into your vein (IV) or as a shot. A doctor may inject you with a shot of at the hospital at first, then instruct you on how to keep taking the shots at home, if it is needed. Usually you will need take the shots once or twice daily. If you are taking by IV, then you will need to receive blood tests. If you are taking as a shot then you will not need blood tests.
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A doctor could also prescribe you with () which can be taken by pill. You would usually only need to take the pill once a day, starting typically while you are still on and then continuing on for the next 3 to 6 months or more after you are off . While taking you will also need to take blood tests regularly. This is to ensure you have the right amount of medicine — too little will not do much to prevent future clots from forming, and too much can make dangerous, excessive bleeding more likely. can also interact with other medicines, vitamins, as well as foods with a lot of vitamin K, so it is important to get your blood tested regularly so you can change dosage as needed.
can cause birth defects, thus it is not prescribed to those who are pregnant. They will usually take some other blood thinner medicines.
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Xa inhibitors
Recently developed anti-clotting medicines known as Xa inhibitors can work as well as for most people. Xa inhibitors are usually easier for patients with DVT as they do not need to get blood test, change dosage, or keep in mind what foods to eat. It can also cause less bleeding than , making dangerous bleeding less of a worry. However, there are no medicines to take if a bleeding becomes a problem.
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These are all pills that can be taken to treat blood clots if you have a certain irregular heartbeat. Some can also be taken to prevent DVT from forming after receiving surgery for hip fracture, hip replacement, knee replacement, or anything that include the abdominal organs.
These medicines work by stopping certain proteins that helps blood clots grow.
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This is a shot to help prevent DVT for those who are receiving surgery for hip fracture, hip replacement, knee replacement, or anything that include the abdominal organs. Doctors might also prescribe along with to treat a serious DVT or a pulmonary embolism.
Clot-Busting:Catheter-Directed Thrombolysis
If you have DVT, your body will eventually dissolve the blood clot by itself. However, before your body can dissolve the blood clot it can cause damage inside the vein. Thus, some doctors may recommend a procedure called clot-busting. Getting the procedure of clot-busting done allows the clot to break down quicker and restore blood flow. It may also save the valves in the vein that the blood clot was in. The procedure is recommended if if you:
- Have large blood clots that causes pain, swelling and/or problems with circulation
- Are at a high risk for a pulmonary embolism (blockage of a major blood vessel in the lung)
- Have DVT in your arm rather than riskier places such as your leg
However, this procedure is riskier than taking blood thinners to treat DVT — you will have increased risk of bleeding problems such as excessive or internal bleeding, and/or having a stroke.
The procedure is done in a hospital. First, a specialist will put a thin tube called a catheter into your vein and put the tip of the tube into your clot. This is done using an X-ray as a guide. Then, they will proceed to send the drug (thrombolytic agent) into the clot using the catheter. If your vein seems narrow, the specialist may also do additional work by widening it to help prevent future blockages. This can be done by doing a balloon angioplasty or placing a stent.
Surgery
If the DVT is not responding well to taking blood thinners or clot-busting, or if both these treatments are not possible, doctors may recommend surgery. There are two types of surgeries that can remove a DVT:
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Vena cava filter
This is a procedure in which the doctor puts places a filter in a vein in order to help catch blood clots and prevent them from moving to parts of your body where a blood clot can become dangerous. The placement of the filter is typically dependent on where the DVT is. Blood passes through the filter normally.
This procedure is typically only recommended in extreme cases of DVT, as its effectiveness and safety is not well established.
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Venous thrombectomy
A type of DVT called phlegmasia cerulea dolens is an uncommon and severe form of DVT that does not respond well to other treatment of DVT. In these cases, one may need to have the deep vein clot cut out in a procedure called the venous thrombectomy. While this procedure can be a success, there is an increased risk of a blood clot forming again.
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