FEATURE
events occurred when the filters remained
in place for long periods, even though they
are intended for short-term placement,
prompting the FDA to encourage physicians
to remove the filters as soon as the suspected
risk for PE had subsided.
So, there are a myriad of complications,
and we haven’t even talked about the data
supporting the efficacy of these filters yet,
which I believe is very weak. Clearly, the
risks outweigh the benefits.
Dr. Stavas: There is a lot of controversy
regarding the use of IVC filters, but the number of IVC filters used in clinical practice has
skyrocketed over the last 10 years.3 Evidently,
clinicians are still comfortable with placing
IVC filters despite the controversy.
It’s impossible to know what clinicians
are thinking, but discrepancies between
the two major sets of guidelines – from
the American College of Chest Physicians
(AACP) and the Society of Interventional
Radiology (SIR) – dictating their use may
be ۙH