Question:
IVC Filter placement

I go on Thursday to have a IVC filter put in place. Can someone please give me a detailed view on what this will be like? How do they get it in? Where do the insert it? Will I notice where the inserted it? Thank you for your time!    — bridgadean (posted on July 22, 2008)

July 22, 2008
I had my filter in in May. They will put in an IV to help with any discomfort you may have and then use an xray machine to guide them as they enter the filter in the right side of your chest. It was really a piece of cake. The worrying I did ahead of time was much worse than the procedure itself. Best of luck.
   — rentacar3

July 22, 2008
It depends on where they insert the IVC, it could be placed in your groin or on the right side of your chest. It is pretty easy and your worrying before is worst than the procedure. I had mine done in January of 2006 but it wasn't for Weight Loss Surgery, but when they did my weight loss surgery, that was a step I didn't have to do. Mine is a permanent one, I am proned to DVT's. I still don't think about the IVC and I can't feel it. Good Luck,
   — dyates2948

July 23, 2008
What is an IVC or the other thing you mentioned? I have never heard of it or what it is for...can you educate me a little on this? Thanks, Lyn
   — SkinnyLynni2B

July 23, 2008
I had an IVC filter put in the week before my gastric bypass. They took me to xray and gave me a shot in my right groin and inserted it there. They followed their progress with an x-ray screen to make sure they placed it correctly. I don't even know that its there. Just had to lie on my back for an hour afterwards and I can't even see the place where they inserted it. It was over before you knew what was happening. Terri
   — ericson414

July 23, 2008
An IVC filter (aldo known as an umbrella filter) is a small metal "cage" that allows the blood to flow through it but will hopefully catch large clots before they can travel to the lungs. They are placed before major abdominal surgery for people with clotting problems and/or a history of deep vein clots. They are placed under conscious sedation (through an IV) so you do not feel anything. They make a very small incision (maybe 1/4 inch) usually in the groin, and a small tube is threaded into the Inferior Vena Cava - a large vein returning blood to your heart. They place the filter below the kidneys (just above the waist) and it stays put right there until they remove it or decide to leave it in place. They check proper placement with IV contrast (through the IV) and an Xray I had mine placed a few days before my surgery in late May. You do have to stay flat on your back for an hour - a precaution to assure it won't bleed. The whole thing from check in to going home took about 5 hours. You cannot feel it at all. You must HOLD any Metformin the day of and day after the procedure, and HOLD coumadin for 5 days before. Nancy Carle, RN
   — nancycarle