What Are the Treatments for Blood Clots?

Blood clots are potentially life-threatening health problems which can be treated with medications. Other non-medication treatments can be used if medications are not the best course of treatment for the patient. Surgery is considered the treatment of last resort.

Medications

• Anticoagulants (blood thinners) are given to the patient to decrease, not stop, the blood's ability to clot. Blood thinners don't break up clots. These will dissolve on their own over time. Instead, blood thinners are used to keep existing clots from getting bigger and to keep new clots from forming. Blood thinners can be taken in pill form, injections or in an intravenous (IV) solution. An example of a pill is warfarin while Coumadin is one formulation of warfarin. Heparin is given via injection or IV. The doctor can treat with both heparin and warfarin. The heparin works quickly while the warfarin will take two to three days to begin working. Once the warfarin begins working, the heparin is withdrawn.

Thrombolytics

• In an emergency situation, thromobolytics are given to quickly break up a clot before it threatens the patient's life. These medications are given when the clot is large; they break up the clot before they become life-threatening.

Catheterization

• If necessary, the doctor will use a catheter to reach the clot to administer the medication. For example, the catheter will be threaded through a vein in the groin and up to the lung, where it will be used to extract the clot or to deliver an emergency medication.

Vena Cava Filter

• In the instance that blood thinning medications don't work or the patient can't take blood thinners, his doctor may decide to insert a vena cava filter to keep blood clots from traveling to the lungs. This device is inserted into a large vein called the inferior vena cava; it will catch clots before they get to the lungs. While it stops pulmonary embolisms, it does not prevent the formation of new clots.

Surgery

• Surgery is rarely used to remove blood clots, but when it is resorted to, it is only for life-threatening or limb-threatening blood clots. Medications and emergency medications will be used before surgery. These surgeries are called thrombectomy and embolectomy. Doctors would much rather see blood thinning medications and thrombolytic medications dissolve or break up the clot; if the clot does not dissolve or becomes immediately life threatening, he will then resort to removing the clot surgically.