Journal of vascular surgery
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Randomized Controlled Trial Comparative Study
Prospective randomized study comparing the clinical outcomes between inferior vena cava Greenfield and TrapEase filters.
Although anticoagulation remains the mainstay of treatment for deep venous thrombosis, the use of inferior vena cava (IVC) filters when anticoagulation has failed or when contraindicated remains a safe and effective treatment. Greenfield (Boston Scientific, Natick, Mass) and TrapEase (Cordis, Bridgewater, NJ) filters are arguably among the most popular filtration devices. The Greenfield filter (12F introducer) has been in use for >30 years and has been well studied. The TrapEase filter (6F introducer) has been used since 2000, with a limited number of studies. Good guidelines to help determine which filter to use in any given situation are lacking; therefore, this randomized study prospectively compared the clinical outcomes (access-site thrombosis, filter thrombosis, and symptomatic pulmonary embolism [PE]) between these filters. ⋯ A higher rate of symptomatic IVC/IV thrombosis is associated with TrapEase filter placement. However, the TrapEase filter still has a selective clinical role in the prevention of thromboembolism in selected patients who are coagulopathic. This is the first randomized prospective study comparing IVC filters since their inception in 1967.