I haven't but I would research it extensively and get a couple of medical opinions on it before doing anything. I don't know that it's always helpful to have someone try to fix your legs through a procedure if the PTS is not severe. I asked my cardiologist (who also does interventional procedures) about this and thought it could end up causing me more swelling long term. I'd only resort to a surgical procedure, and that is what it is, even if minimally invasive, if the PTS was so severe that the pain was unbearable and it rendered me immobile and not able to function. But that's me. It may be that those procedures are improved where they can guarantee really good outcomes now.

Are you wearing quality compression stockings?

I've had it done by Dr. Garcia. I've had a really great outcome. My PTS symptoms are hardly noticeable. In fact, I have been having a really good last 6 weeks or so to point that my leg feels completely normal. I'm about 20 months out from my last procedure.

I will say this, to really get evaluated and know if the procedure could help you, I think you need to talk to a doctor that is doing it. For years physicians were taught that nothing could be done, so many are still in disbelief that something can be done or that a patient will see permanent improvement. I was told by my own physicians (Primary, Vascular and Hemotolgist) that nothing could be done. They just didn't believe it. That was two years ago. They all believe it now. They have me explain the procedure to their new med students even.

Dr. Garcia has now removed clots older than 20 years. It's never too late to check into having your chronic clots removed. But it is better to do it sooner rather than later because the longer they are in there the more permanent damage they may cause.

I don't advocate all chronic clots need to be removed. If they are not causing an issue then they are fine, but if they are causing PTS there are options that can make your leg better now. Not perfect though. Damage has been done if you have PTS. Valves are most likely damaged. When I say my leg feels normal, do religiously wear a 20-30 knee high compression sock. But the reason I say my leg has been so good the last 6 weeks or so is that I wake up and if I don't put my compression sock on for an hour or so my leg feels perfect and there is no swelling. Dr. Garcia says everyone deserves a day off from compression socks and I suppose I should even try it now to see what happens, but I'm just mentally not ready to see what happens. I have damaged valves so I think if I went without it all day my leg would swell and I guess I just don't want to know that for sure.

I'm so glad I did the research, ignored my doctor's advice, and went and had the procedure. It changed my life.

rmb is right about the compression socks -- if you have the procedure you will be told to wear compression socks.

Thanks Aicirtapj! I was told over and over that nothing could be done for me, too. I have an 8 yro DVT and am now exploring this option. Where did you have your procedure done? Do you have a stent now?Did they mention the potential of the stent clogging after a few years or what the long term expectations may be?

Sorry to just be replying now -- I just saw this was directed at me. I had my procedure done in Delaware at Christiana by Dr. Garcia. I'm lucky in that it was within my PPO and they are only about 35 to 45 minutes away depending on traffic.

And yes, I do have a sent. I actually have more than one. I have to have a sent though because I have MTS. And I have been very open on this board that it has not been an easy process to get to where I am now.

I originally had 2 stents put in back in April of 2012 when I first clotted. Things seemed to,be going well, but 10 days after my first heparin shot I developed HIT (what used to be called HIT Type 2). As a result my stent clotted up and I actually ended up with clots all the way down from both my right and left iliacs. They went in and tried to removed them but I still developed chronic clots and my stent clotted up all the way.

Fast forward to a year later, I go to see Dr. Garcia (against the advice of my doctors because nothing more can be done). Dr. Garcia manages to remove my Chronic Clots below my stents, but he couldn't get through the ones in my stents so what he manages to do is put stents in next to my stents (his fellows seem to think this is more amazing than getting through a chronic clot). And he put in 4 instead of 2 and a different type. So I have stents that go from my iliac down into my femoral vein. Sadly, a month later my new stents were clotted up. Normally, Dr. Garcia was having his patients do Lovenox shots for a month after the procedure and then switch to Xarelto, but I couldn't do the Lovenox shots because of the HIT so I went straight to Xarelto. It turned out I had a resistance to Xarelto and I needed a higher dose. He opened me back up in the new stents and I clotted back up almost immediately. And then finally on the third procedure we discovered that once again I was special in that my body was making too much scar tissue and it was the scar tissue that was blocking the stents. He did some laser surgery, repositioned my 4 new stents and then put more stents inside the new stents -- so I have 8 working stents and two non working stents that are just there. I have remained open and with good flow now for almost 2 years. At this point we don't foresee that my stents would clot up again as long as I stay on my blood thinner. But, all the genetic tests show I don't have a genetic reason to clot (and my family does not have a history of being clotters either) so the plan right now is that I come off of Xarelto around November of this year.

Dr. Garcia normally will not put stents below the femoral vein. I have heard that some doctors do. But in his experience, the lower veins will stay open without them and it you don't need them you shouldn't have them. Through my 6 months of trying to get my stented area to stay open, my lower veins staid open without stents. So even with having clots up high, I didn't need stents lower. So my advice about stents is if your doctor doesn't feel you need them, don't ask for them.

I see you are out in California, which means you are by Stanford. I have heard they have also had good results with removing Chronic Clots. In fact, before I discovered I was living so close to Dr. Garcia and what he was doing, I discovered Stanford and what they were doing and I started thinking I was going to fly out to Standford to have mine removed. My advise would be to go see them and discuss your situation and see if they can help you if your Chronic Clot is affecting your life.