Clinical trial reveals risky clot busters do not benefit most patients suffering from deep vein thrombosis

The largest clinical trial ever to test the effects of so-called clot busting drugs and medical devices concludes that such treatments do not prevent the long-term complication of post-thrombotic syndrome. A clinical trial almost ten years in the making has revealed that risky, but powerful, clot busting drugs and medical devices do not improve outcomes for patients experiencing deep vein thrombosis (DVT), nor do they prevent the development of post-thrombotic syndrome (PTS) when compared with conventional blood thinning medications. The results of the Acute Venous Thrombosis: Thrombus Removal with Adjunctive Catheter-Directed Thrombolysis (ATTRACT) study are published in the New England Journal of Medicine . Approximately 50,000 Canadians are diagnosed every year with DVT, and up to 40% of these patients will go on to develop PTS, a complication that can leave them with chronic limb pain and swelling that can impede their daily activities. It had been hypothesized that the inability of blood thinners to remove the acute blood clot might be overcome by employing clot busters as an adjuvant therapy. "We found no particular advantage to employing clot busters and do not believe they should be applied to the majority of patients who present with acute DVT. Moreover, clot busters are associated with a higher risk for dangerous bleeding," said Dr. Susan Kahn of the Centre for Clinical Epidemiology at the Lady Davis Institute of the Jewish General Hospital.