A case of placement of vena caval filter for pulmonary embolism after lung cancer operation

Abstract

A 73-year-old woman underwent a left lower lobectomy with R2b lymph node dissection for left lung cancer. Early postoperative course was uneventful, however she developed chest discomfort with tachycardia on the 6th day after operation. Pulmonary embolism was suspected by an electrocardiogram. Emergent lung perfusion scintigraphy confirmed the diagnosis of pulmonary embolism. Anticoagulant therapy of urokinase was immediately administered and the patient symptom was temporarily improved, although the attacks of pulmonary embolism recurred two times. On the 12th day after the lung operation, we inserted a vena caval filter into the inferior vena cava just below the renal vein for the prevention of pulmonary embolus. The clinical course after the insertion of the filter was uneventful during one year without any recurrence of pulmonary embolism.