Mid- and Short-Term Efficacy of Percutaneous Mechanical Thrombectomy in the Treatment of Acute Iliofemoral Deep Vein Thrombosis

Background: We aimed to evaluate the efficacy and safety of percutaneous mechanical thrombectomy (PMT) in treating acute iliofemoral deep vein thrombosis (DVT).Methods: We retrospectively analyzed the clinical data of 82 acute iliofemoral DVT patients between November 2017 and December 2018. The therapeutic effects were evaluated based on the thrombus removal rate and circumference changes 10 cm above the affected knee. Incidence rates of pulmonary embolism were evaluated to determine the safety of the procedure. During follow-up, the incidence of postthrombotic syndrome (PTS) was evaluated using the Villalta score, whereas the patency rate of the iliac vein was evaluated via duplex ultrasonography and venography.Results: The surgical success rate was 100%. We identified 48 patients with iliac vein compression syndrome (IVCS) intraoperatively: three of these underwent stent implantation and the others underwent percutaneous transluminal angioplasty (PTA). Grade II and III thrombus removal was achieved in 32.9% (27/82) and 67.1% (55/82) patients, respectively. Postoperative venography revealed that four patients had many floating thrombi under their inferior vena cava filters, which were not removed. The circumference 10 cm above the affected knee decreased from 50.3 +/- 3.5 cm preoperatively to 46.3 +/- 3.3 cm postoperatively (P < 0.05). During follow-up, a PTS incidence rate of 9.8% was observed. The patency rate of the iliac vein was 66.6% after stent implantation and 93.3% after PTA.Conclusions: PMT is feasible, safe, and effective for acute iliofemoral DVT. With regard to IVCS, we suggest PTA alone as a one-stage surgery, and the need of secondary stent implantation should be determined based on follow-up results.