Cava filters

When anticoagulant drugs are not effective, we then use cava filters

In the vast majority of patients suffering VTE , anticoagulation treatment is effective to prevent pulmonary embolism. But in some cases, this may be insufficient.

A patient may have contraindications to receiving an anticoagulant treatment at the necessary dose (patients who has recently been bleeding seriously, for example).

In other cases, the anticoagulation treatment needs to be interrupted because the patient has to to be operated on. Then, we recommend the placement of a cava filter.

A cava filter is a metal device inserted inside of the vena cava, a vein collecting blood from the veins of both legs. Its shape is similar to that of an open umbrella or a racket, and its mission is to prevent the passage of emboli from the legs to the lung.

Cava filters can be left in the vena cava indefinitely, but it can also be removed if the cause for which it was placed, has disappeared.