Assessing the Safety of IVC Filter Retrieval on Anticoagulation

Inferior vena cava (IVC) filters are often placed in patients who have a blood clot in the leg or are at very high risk of developing a clot. Once they are placed, they filter the blood and prevent a clot being lodged in the lungs. Blood thinning medication (anticoagulants) are started when the patient is better and ready to leave hospital. The filters are designed to be removed, however when the time comes to remove them (usually after 6 months) there is no clear guide as to whether the blood thinners should be stopped or continued during the removal.
We aim to review the cases over the last 5 years at this hospital to see how many people remained on blood thinners, and whether this was associated with higher risk of major injury or bleeding. We suspect that the blood thinners don't confer a higher risk of problems and thus it is safer to continue on these for the procedure. This has the potential to change practice across the world.