Break-through surgery saves Qld Mum and unborn baby

The lives of a pregnant woman and her baby have been saved by pioneering surgery that removed a massive blood clot from the mother’s leg through a tiny incision.

Clare Foreman with Isabel Foreman. Photo: Josh Woning

The lives of a pregnant woman and her baby have been saved by pioneering surgery that removed a lethal foot long blood clot from the mother’s leg through a one centimetre incision.

Clot-busting drugs, usually used to treat deep vein thrombosis, would have threatened the baby’s life but today both mum and baby are safe at home following the innovative procedure by Mater vascular surgeon Danny Hagley.

Clare Foreman was 34 weeks’ pregnant and relaxing on her couch when she suffered agonising pain in her leg and abdomen.

Unknown to her, a potentially lethal foot-long blood clot had developed in her deep femoral vein.

She was admitted to hospital and treated with standard blood thinners but this did not improve her symptoms. She had leg swelling and pain, making it impossible for her to even walk to the bathroom.

Stuart and Clare Foreman with Isabel Foreman, (2.5 weeks old). Photo: Josh Woning

Dr Hagley became the first surgeon in Queensland to use the cutting-edge Inari ClotTriever device late last year and in this case was again able to extract Ms Foreman’s ‘unusually large’ clot through the small incision.

The surgery was performed at Mater Private Hospital Brisbane just days after baby Isabel was delivered via an emergency caesarean section at Mater Mothers’ Hospital.

“Clare’s condition was not just painful, it was also very dangerous,” Dr Hagley said.

“A multidisciplinary team of specialists worked together to ensure Isabel’s safe arrival, while making sure Clare’s health and wellbeing was not compromised.

“Prior to her DVT surgery, we put a clot filter in via Clare’s neck to minimise the chance of clotting moving to her heart and lungs during the delivery of baby Isabel,” the surgeon said.

Dr Hagley said the ClotTriever device uses a metal ring which opposes the edges of the vein connected to a mesh collecting basket which is inserted directly into the vein and surrounds the clot, which is then safely removed out of the bloodstream.

“Without the ClotTriever, Clare would have had significant risk of bleeding from her caesarean section surgery or have to go undergo major open surgery and would have faced a lengthy recovery time,” Dr Hagley said.

Clare Foreman with Isabel Foreman. Photo: Josh Woning

Ms Foreman said she had experienced some pain in her left leg during her pregnancy, but it was a seemingly harmless movement on the couch at home that led to her being taken to the Pregnancy Assessment Centre at Mater Mothers’.

“I felt a pop and there was intense pain from my leg up into my abdomen,” she said.

“My leg went a different colour and started to swell up immediately and we knew it was time to go to hospital for further investigation. My husband Stuart and I both cried tears of relief once we knew how the problem was going to be dealt with because it had all been so scary,” she said.