Conservative Treatment for the Removal of a Central Venous Catheter with Large Thrombus: A Case Report

Abstract

Thrombus is one of the serious complications associated with the use of a central venous catheter (CVC). We report the case of a 74‐year‐old Japanese man with a large CVC thrombus who successfully underwent thrombolytic treatment. The infusion of recombinant tissue‐type plasminogen activator (rt‐PA) was effective for achieving a partial dissolution of the thrombus, and the CVC was thereafter successfully removed without any serious complications during both the clinical course and the long‐term follow‐up period. We therefore consider thrombolytic treatment with rt‐PA to be effective and not overly invasive, and may thus be useful in treating patients experiencing a CVC‐related thrombus.