Objectives: The aim was to assess the effectiveness and safety of catheter-directed thrombolysis in children with deep venous thrombosis and to evaluate its long-term effect.
Method and results: EMBASE, Medline and Cochrane databases were searched to identify studies in which paediatric acute deep venous thrombosis patients received thrombolysis. Following title and abstract screening, seven cohort studies with a total of 183 patients were identified. Technical success was 82% and superior in regional rather than systemic thrombolysis (p < 0.00001). One cohort study identified significant difference in thrombus resolution at one year between thrombolytic and anticoagulant groups (p = 0.01). The complication rate was low, with incidence rates of major bleeding, pulmonary embolism and others at 2.8%, 1.8% and 8.4%, respectively. The overall post-thrombotic syndrome rate was 12.7%. The incidence of re-thrombosis ranged from 12.3% to 27%.
Conclusion: Thrombolysis for paediatric deep venous thrombosis is an effective and relatively safe therapeutic option, lowering the incidence of post-thrombotic syndrome and deep venous thrombosis recurrence.
Keywords: Thrombolysis; children; deep venous thrombosis; paediatric; post-thrombotic syndrome; systematic review.