Venous stenting in DVT: what really happens over time?

At Charing Cross 2026, Dr Michael Lichtenberg presented new long-term insights on venous revascularisation in patients treated for acute and chronic femoral DVT, a key issue in younger populations who require durable outcomes and reliable follow-up data.

One long-running study followed around 80 patients treated for different indications, including May-Thurner syndrome and acute or chronic DVT, with up to 8 years of follow-up, focusing on patency, safety and clinical effectiveness after venous stenting. The main finding is that loss of patency is not typically a late phenomenon. Instead, most complications occur early, within the first 6 to 8 months after the procedure.

Rather than progressive long-term restenosis, the issue appears to be early re-occlusion, likely linked to suboptimal inflow immediately after implantation. These results shift attention toward the peri-procedural period as a decisive factor for long-term success.

A clear message emerges from this long-term analysis: outcomes are largely shaped in the first months after treatment.

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