Created as an alternative to anticoagulant medications for some patients, IVC filters may be prone to complications that leave their risks outweighing their usefulness.

An IVC filter, or inferior vena cava filter, is an implantable medical device used to prevent dangerous blood clot-related conditions like pulmonary embolism.

Patients may be at particular risk for these conditions after certain types of injuries, surgery, or medical treatments.

If anticoagulant medication is not a good option for a particular patient, their doctor may recommend using an IVC filter instead.

The device is built like a tiny metal cage. A doctor places it inside the inferior vena cava, the major vein that returns blood from the body to the heart and lungs.

If all goes as intended, the IVC filter will trap blood clots and prevent them from traveling from the lower body to the upper body, where they may cause life-threatening problems.

Some of these filters are designed to be left in place permanently, while others are designed to be removed once the risk of pulmonary embolism has subsided.

Things don’t always go as planned. Hundreds of patients have reported IVC filer complications that in some cases have caused injury and may threaten the patient’s life.

Reported IVC filter complications have included:

• Migration. Sometimes an IVC filter moves out of position. This is the most frequently reported IVC filter complication.
• Filter fracture. Some filters may break while in position.
• Detachment of components. Also known as embolization, parts of the filter may detach and be left loose in the bloodstream.
• Perforation. Filters and parts of filters have been known to perforate the walls of the inferior vena cava and sometimes nearby organs.

Due to the risks of these IVC filter side effects, the FDA issued a warning about IVC filters in 2010.

The agency advised doctors to remove non-permanent IVC filters as soon as the patient is no longer at particular risk for pulmonary embolism, to avoid exposing the patient to an unnecessary risk of IVC filter complications.

At the time of that warning, the FDA said it had received 921 reports of adverse events involving IVC filters, filed between 2005 and 2010. Of these reports:

• 328 involved migration of the device out of its correct place;
• 146 involved embolizations;
• 70 reported perforations; and
• 56 filters were reported to have fractured.

Symptoms of IVC Filter Complications

The symptoms that individual patients have experienced may vary, depending on their particular IVC filter complications.

One IVC filter lawsuit claims the plaintiff reported chronic heart issues related to a fragmented IVC filter. Rather than undergo open heart surgery, she opted to take anticoagulant medications for the rest of her life to avoid further alleged IVC filter complications.

In another IVC filter lawsuit, the patient said he lost consciousness while driving his car after his IVC filter allegedly fractured and migrated to his heart.

A third plaintiff claims her IVC filter migrated out of place, causing damage to her heart and lungs.

These IVC filter lawsuits are just three among many others like them, in which patients generally allege the devices’ manufacturers failed to warn about the risks of IVC filter side effects.

Some allege the devices were defectively designed and manufactured, or that the manufacturers failed to adequately test them before putting them on the market.