How should a thrombus at the catheter site be managed?

Blood clots at the catheter site may be caused by factors such as medication, patient-related conditions, or catheter-related issues, and require targeted treatment.

1. Medication Factors

Blood clots at the catheter site may occur due to long-term intravenous infusion therapy and irritation from medications. In such cases, anticoagulant therapy can be administered under a doctor's guidance using medications such as low molecular weight heparin sodium tablets, warfarin tablets, or rivaroxaban tablets.

2. Patient Factors

Catheters are mostly made of polyethylene material. If a patient is intolerant to this material, it may irritate the blood vessel and lead to thrombus formation. In such cases, thrombolytic therapy is required, using alteplase for injection combined with urokinase for injection administered via intravenous infusion to dissolve the clot within the vessel.

3. Catheter Factors

Regardless of the type of catheter placement, insertion into the blood vessel inevitably causes some degree of vascular wall injury. If the condition is severe, the patient should go to the hospital for surgical venous thrombectomy to remove the catheter.

If the clot has already caused loss of catheter function, it is recommended to remove the catheter as early as possible to reduce vascular irritation.