PATIENT INFO - INFERIOR VENA CAVA FILTER PLACEMENT

Inferior vena cava filter placement is a procedure to place a filter into your inferior vena cava (IVC). The IVC is a large blood vessel that brings blood from your lower body back to your heart. The filter is a small mesh strainer made of thin wires. It is placed in the center of the IVC to trap blood clots going to your heart or lungs.

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Why do I need an IVC filter?

You may need an IVC filter if you have a blood clot in your leg. You may also need an IVC filter if your risk of blood clots is increased, such as after surgery or during pregnancy. You may need a temporary or permanent filter.

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What happens during IVC filter placement?

Your caregiver will insert a catheter (thin plastic tube) into a blood vessel in your neck or groin. He will use an ultrasound or x-ray to guide the catheter into your IVC. The filter will be pushed through the catheter and attached to the walls of the IVC. The catheter is pulled out and the filter is left in. Your caregiver will press firmly on the area where the catheter went in, to stop any bleeding. After a few minutes, your caregiver will put a bandage on the area.

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What are the risks of an IVC filter?

You may bleed more than expected or get an infection. Your IVC and the tissue around it may get damaged during the procedure. Your filter may break, loosen, move, or get blocked. You may need another procedure to fix these problems with your filter.

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What are the benefits vs. risks?

Benefits

• No surgical incision is needed—only a small nick in the skin that does not have to be stitched closed.
• The filter has a high rate of success in protecting lungs from serious pulmonary embolus (PE) in patients who have failed conventional medical therapy or cannot be given conventional medical therapy.

Risks

• Any procedure where the skin is penetrated carries a risk of infection. The chance of infection requiring antibiotic treatment appears to be less than one in 1,000.
• There is a very slight risk of an allergic reaction if contrast material is injected.
• Any procedure that involves placement of a catheter inside a blood vessel carries certain risks. These risks include damage to the blood vessel, bruising or bleeding at the puncture site, and infection.
• There is a chance that the IVC filter can lodge in the wrong place, change position or penetrate through the vein (which can rarely lead to injury of a nearby organ).
• The IVC filter or a piece of the IVC filter may break loose and travel to the heart or lungs causing injury or death.
• Rarely, IVC filers become so filled with clots that they block all flow in the blood vessel, causing swelling in the legs.
• In some cases, retrievable filters become scarred to the vein and cannot be removed, in which case they are left in permanently (as they are also designed to do).

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