IVC filter insertion

IVC filter insertion. Indications for an IVC filter include patients with a documented lower limb DVT but with a contra-indication to anti-coagulation (for example, recent haemorrhagic stroke). For filter insertion, a catheter is passed into the IVC through the internal jugular vein. Through this, a contrast venogram is performed. The purpose of this is to choose an appropriate position for the filter (it should be below the junction with the renal veins, indicated by the arrows), and to ensure that there is only one IVC (a small number of people have two IVCs – we could potentially place a filter in one, and the DVT could pass through the other and result in a PE). In the right-hand image, the filter has been deployed. These filters can be removed when no longer required.