Symptoms of IVC Filter Perforation
The IVC filter may save lives, but it also causes serious discomfort and sometimes fatal damage to others. It is a filter that is placed into the inferior vena cava vein to help block a blood clot from reaching the lungs.
The problem for many patients is that blood clots can form in their legs, and eventually make their way up through the IVC into the heart and lungs. When that happens, the result can be fatal. That is why it is so important for doctors to find a way to stop these clots.
The problem with using the IVC filters, however, is that the side effects can be extremely painful, problematic and sometimes fatal. That is why there are a series of IVC Filter lawsuits against manufacturers.
IVC Filter Side Effects
The side effects of the IVC filter are wide reaching. The problem with the IVC filter is that it can be very unpredictable when it is put into the body. Even if a doctor uses the right technique and procedures to get the filter into the vein, it can still dislodge or cause other problems. Many patients ended up with issues related to the IVC filter expanding in size, rupturing, getting infected, breaking apart, or having pieces dislodged.
There are also cases where the IVC filter ends up in other parts of the body, which can cause pain and sometimes serious conditions in those areas. For instance, the IVC filter can cause a serious issue and a lot of pain to patients if it ends up stuck near an organ.
If it is stuck near the heart, it can result in symptoms such as lightheadedness, dizziness, nausea, shortness of breath and a rapid heart rate. If the filter is not removed from the heart area, these conditions can become more serious and could prove fatal.
Clogged IVC Filter Symptoms
A type of issue that is very common is the IVC filter becoming clogged. This happens when a blood clot is stopped by the filter, but it is not removed. The idea behind the filter is not only to block these blood clots, but to get rid of them from within the vein. That ensures the filter can continue operating normally and the patient experiences no discomfort. But a lot of patients report pain and swelling in some part of their leg.
A lot of the time, the pain and swelling a patient is experiencing is because the filter is clogged. Not only can that pain become quite unpleasant, but a clogged filter may struggle to stop another blood clot that comes into its path. That is why it is vital for a doctor to sort out the filter, or remove it and insert another one.
Signs of IVC Filter Migration
The major signs of IVC filter migration are when the patient begins to experience pain in some other part of their body. For instance, if the patient starts to report some unusual back or abdominal pain that was never there before, or they are in pain when they complete some type of body movement, it could be due to the IVC filter being lodged in the wrong part of the body.
As we mentioned earlier, the symptoms such as dizziness and a rapid heart rate are present if the IVC filter is too close to the heart. If patients are experiencing any of these symptoms, the best thing they can do is go to a doctor. A regular checkup is okay with light symptoms, but a serious bout of symptoms merits an emergency room visit.
The side effects of these IVC filters are so serious that IVC Filter lawsuits have become commonplace. If you had a filter installed in your body after 2003, and you experienced some complications while it was in your body, you may be entitled to file a lawsuit too.