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Case Reports
. 2024 Jun 26;10(13):e33246.
doi: 10.1016/j.heliyon.2024.e33246. eCollection 2024 Jul 15.

Surgical removal of an inferior vena cava filter in the duodenum: A rare case report and literature review

Bingjie Zhu  1 , Peng Zhou  1 , Yunfei Chen  1 , Chuanqi Cai  1 , Qin Li  1
Affiliations
Case Reports

Surgical removal of an inferior vena cava filter in the duodenum: A rare case report and literature review

Bingjie Zhu et al. Heliyon. .

Abstract

Background: Inferior vena cava filters are typically retrieved using endovascular procedures. However, in cases where complications related to the filter arise or when endovascular retrieval becomes challenging, open surgery could be considered.

Case presentation: A 65-year-old woman underwent inferior vena cava filter placement surgery for progressive venous thrombosis embolism (VTE). Following an unsuccessful endovascular retrieval attempt at an external hospital two months later, she experienced abdominal pain and was transferred to our facility for further treatment. Examination revealed that she was encountered a complication where the inferior vena cava filter penetrated both the vena cava and the duodenum post-implantation. But fortunately, the patient's blood test results were within normal range. Ultimately, our institution successfully removed the filter through open surgery and the patient was discharged without any complications.

Conclusions: This case, along with our literature review, illustrates the viability and safety of duodenal-penetrated filter removal via open surgery, resulting in favorable outcomes and a promising prognosis for the patient.

Keywords: Duodenal penetration; IVC filter; IVC filter complication; IVC filter retrieval; Open surgery.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper.

Figures

Fig. 1
Fig. 1
The manifestation of ectopic inferior vena cava filter in imaging. (A) Intraoperative angiographic display of filter pillar penetrated the lateral posterior wall of the inferior vena cava. (B) Shifted IVC filter displayed on CT images. The arrow points to the filter pillar that penetrated the wall of the IVC, suspected to have penetrated the intestinal wall. (C) CTV imaging data was extracted using a 3D software called DetecModeling developed by boea wisdom, displaying the relationship between the abnormal filter and the surrounding duodenum.
Fig. 2
Fig. 2
Successful removal of ectopic IVC filter through abdominal median incision. (A) Abnormal filter detected during surgery. The arrow represents a filter strut that penetrated the intestinal wall. (B) Ectopic filter successfully removed through open surgery. (C) Abnormal filter completely removed. The arrow represents the removed filter pillar that penetrated the intestinal wall. (D) Normal inferior vena cava displayed on CT images after filter removal.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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