Venous Thromboembolism - Treatment - Treatment

Anticoagulants, or blood thinners, and thrombolytics are medicines commonly used to treat VTE.

• Anticoagulants, or blood thinners, keep blood clots from getting larger and stop new clots from forming. Conventional blood thinners include warfarin and heparin, but newer blood-thinning medicines are also available. To take them, you might get an injection, take a pill, or have an IV tube inserted. Possible side effects include bleeding, especially if you are taking other medicines that also thin your blood, such as aspirin.
• Thrombin inhibitors interfere with the process of clot formation. They may be used for people who cannot take heparin.
• Thrombolytics may be used to dissolve large blood clots that cause severe symptoms or other serious complications. Because thrombolytics can cause sudden bleeding, they are used only for serious and potentially life-threatening VTE events, such as pulmonary embolism.

In some cases, including emergencies, a doctor may need to do a catheter-assisted thrombus removal. This procedure uses a flexible tube to reach a blood clot in your lung. The doctor can insert a tool in the tube to break up the clot or to deliver medicine through the tube. Usually you will get medicine to put you to sleep for this procedure.

Some people who cannot take blood thinners may need a vena cava filter to treat their deep vein thrombosis. The filter is inserted inside a large vein called the vena cava. The filter catches blood clots before they travel to the lungs, which prevents pulmonary embolism. However, the filter does not stop new blood clots from forming. A filter is not usually recommended if you have taken blood thinners.

• Life After will discuss what your doctor may recommend, including lifelong lifestyle changes and medical care to prevent your condition from recurring, getting worse, or causing complications.
• Research for Your Health will explain how we are using current research and advancing research to treat people who have VTE.
• Participate in NHLBI Clinical Trials features ongoing clinical studies that are investigating treatments for VTE.