Catheter-directed endovascular application of thrombin: Report of 3 cases and review of the literature.

PURPOSE

To report 3 new cases of catheter-directed endovascular application of thrombin and explore trends by analysis of published case series.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

Institutional Review Board approved this retrospective study. All cases of non-tumoral arterial embolization performed from January 2003 to January 2015 at our institution were retrospectively reviewed. Thrombin was used in 7 of 589 cases. In 3 cases intra arterial thrombin was injected via catheter to treat active hemorrhage. Four cases were excluded due to percutaneous injection into visceral pseudoaneurysms (n=3) and making ex vivo autologous clot to be injected via catheter (n=1). Fisher's exact and the Wilcoxon rank sum tests were used to assess for association with acute nontarget thrombosis.

RESULTS

Catheter-directed thrombin was used in 3/589 (0.5%) cases at our institution. All three cases were technically successful with no further bleeding (100%). Nontarget thrombosis of proximal branches occurred in 2 patients (67%) with no significant clinical consequences. Including our 3 cases, a total of 28 cases were reviewed. Of the variables examined-location (p=0.99), size (p=0.66) and etiology of vascular lesion (p=0.92), pseudoaneurysm neck anatomy (p=0.14), thrombin units (p=0.47), volume (p=0.76) or technique of use of small doses (p=0.99), use of other embolic material (p=0.67) and use of adjunct techniques (p=0.99)-none were found to be significantly associated with acute nontarget thrombosis. Technical success was 96% with no reports of reperfusion after treatment.

CONCLUSIONS

Catheter-directed endovascular thrombin can be an additional tool to treat pseudoaneurysms not amenable to conventional embolization. Further studies are required to optimize technique and outcomes.