Stephan Moll, MD, professor of medicine and member of the UNC Hemophilia and Thrombosis Center, co-authored the results of a large-scale multicenter clinical trial focusing on catheter-directed thrombolysis and its effects.

Deep vein thrombosis (DVT) – blood clots, usually in the legs – is commonly treated with either a blood thinner or by combining the use of blood thinners with a procedure called catheter-directed thrombolysis. In this procedure, doctors insert a catheter into the leg to administer so-called “clot-busting” drugs directly into the clot, breaking it up and allowing some of it to be sucked out of the vein through the catheter.

The findings of a clinical trial published in the New England Journal of Medicine show that such procedures are often unnecessary and can result in complications.

“Many clinics and hospitals rush into using the catheter-directed thrombolysis procedure as a first-line treatment to prevent the long-term complications of chronic swelling, pain and discomfort, called post-thrombotic syndrome,” said Stephan Moll, MD, professor of medicine and member of the UNC Hemophilia and Thrombosis Center at the UNC School of Medicine. “But we found that rush to be unwarranted.”

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