Late results of surgical venous thrombectomy with iliocaval stenting

Purpose: Iliac vein occlusive disease leads to 73% of rethrombosis that occurs after venous thrombectomy when left untreated. The goal of this study is to present our long-term results of stenting of iliocaval occlusive lesions persisting after surgical venous thrombectomy. Methods: From November 1995 to April 2007, 29 patients (19 women), with a median age of 38 years, had surgical venous thrombectomy with creation of an arteriovenous fistula and angioplasty and stenting. All were admitted for acute (<10 days) deep venous thrombosis (DVT) involving the iliocaval segment, of which eight had concomitant acute pulmonary embolism. Six patients had a history of DVT (2 with previous venous thrombectomy), two were pregnant, and three had postpartum DVT. No patients had short- or mid-term life-threatening factors. The underlying lesion was left iliocaval compression (May-Thurner syndrome) in 22 patients, chronic left common iliac vein occlusion in 3, residual clot in 3, and compression of the left external iliac vein by the left internal iliac artery in 1. Results: Neither perioperative death nor pulmonary embolism occurred. Four early complications occurred after stenting (13.8%). Median hospital length of stay was 8 days (range, 5-22 days). Median follow-up was 63 months (range, 2-137 months). Three late complications occurred (10.3 %): one rethrombosis due to stent crushing during pregnancy and two restenosis, which were treated by iterative stenting. At the end of the follow-up, the median venous clinical severity score was 3 (range 1-12) and the venous disability score was 1 (range 0-2). Primary, assisted primary and secondary patency rates were, respectively, 79%, 86%, and 86% at 12, 60, and 120 months. Patients with patent iliocaval segments had significantly fewer infrainguinal obstructive lesions (4% vs 50%) and a higher rate of valvular competence (76% vs 0%) than those who experienced rethrombosis. Venous scores were also worse in patients with rethrombosis. Conclusion: Stenting is a safe, efficient, and durable technique to treat occlusive iliocaval disease after venous thrombectomy. Its use can prevent most of the rethrombosis that occurrs after venous thrombectomy without major adverse effects.