The role of an IVC filter retrieval clinic-A single center retrospective analysis

Background:

Inferior vena cava (IVC) filter placement still plays an essential role in preventing pulmonary embolism (PE) in patients with contraindications to anticoagulant therapy. However, IVC filter placement does have long-term risks which may be mitigated by retrieving them as soon as clinically acceptable. A dedicated IVC filter clinic provides a potential means of assuring adequate follow-up and retrieval.

Aim:

To assess the efficacy of our Inferior vena cava (IVC) filter retrieval clinic at improving the rate of patient follow-up, effective filter management, and retrieval rates.

Materials and Methods:

During the period of August 2017 through July 2018, 70 IVC filters were placed at our institution, and these patients were automatically enrolled into our IVC filter retrieval clinic for quarterly follow-up. We retrospectively reviewed data including appropriateness for removal at 3 months, overall retrieval rates, removal technique(s) employed, and technical success.

Results:

62.9% of the potentially retrievable filters were removed during the study period. The technical success of extraction, using a combination of standard and advanced techniques, was 91.7%. Overall, 15% of the patients were lost to follow-up.

Conclusion:

Our findings add to the growing body of literature to support the need for a robust IVC filter retrieval clinic to ensure adequate follow-up and timely retrieval of IVC filters.

In situ formation of the loop snare technique for retrieval of foreign bodies from vessels

Purpose: To investigate the feasibility and effectiveness of in situ formation of the loop snare technique for retrieval of foreign bodies from vessels. Materials and methods: We retrospectively reviewed in situ formation of the loop snare technique for retrieval of foreign bodies in 6 patients. After placing the guide wire and the loop of the gooseneck snare on each side of the tubes, the soft tip of the guide wire was caught with the gooseneck snare to form a new loop structure. The foreign body was retrieved with the new loop snare by combining the gooseneck snare and the guide wire. We reviewed the application of this technique in 6 patients with fractured central venous catheters without free ends. Results: With in situ formation of the loop snare technique, the internal ruptured catheter was successfully removed from all of the 6 patients in about 2 to 4 min. There were no complications such as arrhythmia or heart valve injury in the 6 patients with the distal end of the fragment in the pulmonary artery or right atrium. Conclusion: The in situ formation loop snare technique is an effective and fast means of retrieving tubular foreign bodies without free ends from vessels. Further research is needed to investigate the practical utility of the method for retrieval of all kinds of foreign bodies.