thrombectomy

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Mechanical thrombectomy, or simply thrombectomy, is the removal of a blood clot (thrombus) from a blood vessel, often and especially endovascularly as an interventional radiology procedure called endovascular thrombectomy (EVT). It thus contrasts with thrombolysis (clot dissolution) by thrombolytic medications (e.g., alteplase, reteplase), as either alternative or complement thereto. It is commonly performed in the cerebral arteries (interventional neuroradiology) as treatment to reverse the ischemia in some ischemic strokes (i.e., those in which the blockage is a suitable candidate for such retrieval). Open vascular surgery versions of thrombectomy also exist. The effectiveness of thrombectomy for strokes was confirmed in several randomised clinical trials conducted at various medical centers throughout the United States, as reported in a seminal multistudy report in 2015.