Issue link: https://blog.providence.org/i/1427822
10 | Health Matters: Providence Little Company of Mary San Pedro and Torrance Transformative Technology Advanced treatment for blood clots offers new hope. E ach year, close to 1 million Americans are diagnosed with venous thromboembolism (VTE), a blood clot that forms in a vein, often resulting in disabling pain and poor quality of life. The clot can travel to the lungs, causing a pulmonary embolism which can be life-threatening. Approximately 100,000 people die from VTE annually. Unfortunately, the disease is often undertreated. That is why Rishi Kaushal, MD, an interventional cardiologist at Providence Little Company of Mary Medical Centers San Pedro and Torrance, is leading a change movement for VTE patients within the greater South Bay community. Dr. Kaushal wants to improve and save lives by offering new treatment options to VTE patients: the Inari ClotTriever for deep vein thrombosis (DVT) and the Inari FlowTriever for pulmonary embolism (PE). Currently, Providence Little Company of Mary is the first and only health system in the area utilizing this transformative technology. Traditional treatments for VTE relied on blood thinners (anticoagulants), which can stop the clot's growth and prevent future clots but may be less effective at dissolving the clot immediately. Larger, life-threatening clots in the lungs are typically treated with clot-busting drugs called thrombolytics, which often require admission to an intensive care unit and may lead to excessive bleeding. In contrast, with the Inari systems, a catheter is inserted through a small vein, and a small net-like device is guided through the catheter to capture and retrieve the clot. "This low-risk, high-success treatment is minimally invasive and well-tolerated by most patients, often with an immediate and noticeable clinical improvement," says Dr. Kaushal. "This procedure can be lifesaving in the case of pulmonary embolism and can greatly improve a patient's quality of life when it comes to a DVT. The technology is a game changer for us." DEEP VEIN THROMBOSIS Deep vein thrombosis (DVT) is a type of VTE that occurs when clots form in the legs and, occasionally, Dr. Rishi Kaushal