Back to Journals » Patient Related Outcome Measures » Volume 4

Symptom burden and job absenteeism after treatment with additional catheter-directed thrombolysis for deep vein thrombosis

Authors Enden T, Kløw N, Sandset PM 

Received 26 April 2013

Accepted for publication 24 May 2013

Published 16 September 2013 Volume 2013:4 Pages 55—59

DOI https://doi.org/10.2147/PROM.S47233

Checked for plagiarism Yes

Review by Single anonymous peer review

Peer reviewer comments 2



Tone Enden,1–3 Nils-Einar Kløw,2,3 Per Morten Sandset1,3

1Department of Hematology, Oslo University Hospital, Oslo, Norway; 2Department of Radiology and Nuclear Medicine, Oslo University Hospital, Oslo, Norway; 3Institute of Clinical Medicine, University of Oslo, Oslo, Norway

Introduction: Additional catheter-directed thrombolysis (CDT) for acute deep vein thrombosis (DVT) reduces long-term postthrombotic syndrome and is likely to represent a cost-effective alternative treatment compared to the standard treatment of anticoagulation and elastic compression stockings. Accelerated thrombus resolution has also been suggested to improve symptoms and patient function in the acute phase. We aimed to investigate whether additional CDT led to fewer symptoms and job absenteeism during the first 6 months after initiation of DVT treatment compared to standard treatment alone.
Methods: The Catheter-directed Venous Thrombolysis (CaVenT) study was a multicenter open label, randomized controlled trial of patients ages 18 years to 75 years with a verified high proximal DVT,<21 days of symptoms, and no apparent bleeding risk. Patients were allocated to additional CDT or to standard treatment only. Symptoms were assessed at baseline and at 6 months using items from the generic and disease-specific quality of life questionnaires EQ-5D and VEINES-QOL/Sym, respectively. Individual data on sickness benefits related to venous thromboembolic disease were obtained from the national welfare service.
Results: A total of 90 patients allocated additional CDT and 99 control patients completed long-term follow-up and were included in the analyses. Twenty-four in the CDT arm and 40 controls received sick leave (P = 0.046). When considering working patients only (54 in the CDT arm and 72 controls) this difference was no longer statistically significant. Mean duration of job absenteeism was 86.4 days (95% confidence interval 59.4–113.5) in the CDT arm and 60.1 days (95% confidence interval 42.3–77.8) in controls (P = 0.072). After 6 months, more controls experienced frequent swelling of the leg compared with those allocated to CDT (47 [49.0%] patients versus 25 [29.4%] patients, respectively, [P = 0.007]).
Conclusion: There are limitations to our data, but the findings indicate improved symptom relief and less frequent job absenteeism in patients treated with additional CDT; this expands upon previously established benefits from this treatment.

Keywords: venous thrombosis, patient reported outcomes, thrombolytic therapy, symptom burden, randomized controlled trial, postthrombotic syndrome

Creative Commons License © 2013 The Author(s). This work is published and licensed by Dove Medical Press Limited. The full terms of this license are available at https://www.dovepress.com/terms.php and incorporate the Creative Commons Attribution - Non Commercial (unported, v3.0) License. By accessing the work you hereby accept the Terms. Non-commercial uses of the work are permitted without any further permission from Dove Medical Press Limited, provided the work is properly attributed. For permission for commercial use of this work, please see paragraphs 4.2 and 5 of our Terms.