Long Term Effects of DVT

Researchers at McGill University and McMaster University and other institutions in Canada have studied patients with DVT. The conclusions of their studies suggest that about 43 per cent of the patients developed postthrombotic syndrome (PTS). This disorder is characterized as being one of skin changes with pains, swelling, and in severe forms skin ulceration around the ankle area. The studies suggest that older patients, patients who had suffered a previous episode of DVT and patients with larger blood clots had a higher risk for developing PTS. Some of these findings have been corroborated by recent presentations at the American Venous Forum in Phoenix, which we recently attended. There is still an argument about the best way of treating DVT's, ranging from the traditional management technique of thinning out the blood, versus more aggressive approaches such as dissolving the clots with invasive catheters and/or medications