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Acute venous thrombosis and its sequelae, pulmonary embolism and post-thrombotic syndrome, are an increasingly common condition worldwide.

It is estimated that 2.5-5% of the population, at some point in their lives, will have an episode of thrombosis.

The COVID pandemic that our world is going through has made it more “popular” since it is one of the main complications of viral infection, however, the causes of its manifestation are much more.

Early diagnosis, early initiation of medication and modern invasive treatments for the most advanced venous thrombosis, immediately relieve symptoms, prevent potentially fatal pulmonary embolism and improve the long-term quality of life of patients.

Acute Venous Thrombosis | Description:

Acute venous thrombosis is the formation of a blood clot, usually in one of our “deeper” veins, blocking blood flow. Pieces of the clot can break off and travel through the bloodstream to the lungs.

This is called a pulmonary embolism and is extremely life-threatening.

Venous thrombosis can develop in any part of our body, but most often occurs in the veins of the legs and pelvis. The term thrombophlebitis is the combination of thrombosis and inflammation.

There are several risk factors that contribute to the development of venous thrombosis:

• Surgery or serious injury
• Cancer and some of its treatments (e.g. chemotherapy)
• Infections (e.g. COVID-19)
• Prolonged bed rest or sitting for a long time (e.g. on an airplane)
• Pregnancy and the first six weeks after childbirth
• Birth control pills or hormone therapy for menopausal symptoms
• Family history of thrombosis
• Inherited blood disorders that make the blood thicker (e.g. thrombophilia)
• Inflammatory bowel disease (e.g. Crohn’s, ulcerative colitis)
• Autoimmune diseases (e.g. lupus, antiphospholipid syndrome)
• Extended varicose veins
• Smoking and obesity
• Venous catheters, pacemakers, defibrillators

Symptoms of acute venous thrombosis:

Acute venous thrombosis is not accompanied by symptoms in half of the cases. Sometimes, as pieces of the clot break off, the first symptoms may be those of a pulmonary embolism (chest pain and shortness of breath).

However, the common symptoms in the acute phase of venous thrombosis are swelling and pain in the leg (or arm) and increased heat with redness in the area of ​​the swelling.

When the clot begins to become chronic, chronic venous obstruction causes persistent swelling in the legs, pain, difficulty walking and ulcers that are difficult to heal. This is the so-called post-thrombotic syndrome that we will develop in a future article.

Diagnosis of venous thrombosis:

The symptoms of acute venous thrombosis often resemble symptoms of other diseases, making it difficult to diagnose. Based on the patient’s medical history, the vascular surgeon will recommend some blood tests (D-Dimers) and an imaging test. Venous ultrasound is a simple, fast, non-invasive and accurate examination. In more advanced cases, CT or MRI (venography) may be required.

Part of the diagnostic approach, especially when there is no obvious cause of thrombosis, is genetic testing for thrombophilia.

Modern minimally invasive treatments at the patient’s service:

The main and necessary treatment for all cases of acute venous thrombosis are anticoagulant drugs that will limit the expansion of the thrombus and elastic compression with special stockings that will relieve symptoms.

However, in patients with more severe symptoms, modern minimally invasive techniques (without incisions) can be applied and immediately remove the clot (thrombectomy, thrombosuction, thrombolysis). Such treatment can prevent future episodes of new thrombosis and reduce the occurrence of long-term complications, mainly post-thrombotic syndrome.

The return to everyday life is much faster.

Better results are achieved by patients whose symptoms are treated in less than 15 days, when the clot is still “fresh”.

While venous thrombosuction or thrombolysis treatments are quite widespread in the USA, in Europe they are systematically performed in very few centers.

Good results require specialized multidisciplinary teams and specially designed hybrid surgeries.

The Athens Medical Center recently inaugurated the only one in Greece, the new certified Robotic Hybrid Surgery Center – “PROMETHEUS” (Discovery IGS 740 by GE Healthcare), becoming the reference point for such advanced treatments at a pan-European level. With the many years of specialization and experience of our team in the USA and with the ultra-modern biomedical equipment of the Athens Medical Center as an ally, we are able to offer the most personalized, safe and minimally traumatic solution for every case of acute venous thrombosis.