Abstract
Iliofemoral thrombosis is the most severe form of deep venous thrombosis. The patients are at an immediate risk of pulmonary embolism and venous limb ischaemia and, prospectively, of post-thrombotic syndrome.
The management of acute and chronic complications with conservative anticoagulation therapy alone is mostly unsatisfactory. In selected patients presenting with phlegmasia, endovascular treatment with local thrombolysis/mechanical thrombectomy is currently recommended as an alternative to anticoagulation therapy.
Iliac vein compression syndrome (May-Thurner syndrome) has to be addressed at the end of the procedure by means of percutaneous angioplasty and stenting. Endovascular treatment in the hands of an experienced team of interventional angiologists appears to be a highly effective and safe method for the treatment of iliofemoral thrombosis.