While clotting in small veins often is treated with drugs which inhibit the formation of additional clot (anticoagulants such as warfarin, heparin, low molecular weight heparin), other larger veins which are obstructed with clot should be considered for treatments which dissolve or remove the clot. Thrombolysis literally means breakdown of thrombus (clot).

If venous thrombus is relatively young (less than 2-3 weeks old), it is possible in many cases to dissolve the clot by infusing drugs directly into the clot through a small plastic tube placed through a needle stick incision. Additional techniques include devices which spray a jet of liquid into the clot and then suck out particles of the clot or devices which speed up the drug action on the clot by emitting ultrasound into the clot or mechanically mix the drug into the clot.

Many factors enter into a decision regarding which patients are candidates for this treatment. We and our colleagues in Interventional Radiology and Vascular Surgery perform these procedures at Gateway Medical Center adjacent to our office.