September 5, 2025
David Batke, right, stands with Dr. Kiran Reddy, interventional radiologist, in the interventional radiology suite at the Royal Alexandra Hospital that was used to clear his lungs of blood clots using a minimally invasive pulmonary thrombectomy procedure. Batke had difficulty breathing due to a number of blood clots, or pulmonary embolisms, blocking blood flow to his lungs. After receiving a pulmonary thrombectomy to remove the clots, a process for which Batke for was awake, a healthy blood flow was restored. The image to the left shows his lung before clot removal, while the right shows restored blood flow. Supplied.
Story & photo by Sharman Hnatiuk
EDMONTON — As David Batke lay in the Royal Alexandra Hospital emergency department (ED) struggling with shortness of breath, and what felt like a massive weight on his chest, he was presented with two treatment options. For the 58-year-old the choice was easy; rather than be transferred to another hospital for emergency open-heart surgery, he opted for a newer minimally invasive, non-surgical procedure available at the Royal Alex to remove the numerous blood clots clogging his lungs.
The Edmontonian was transported by ambulance one month after having back surgery to the Royal Alex ED where he was quickly diagnosed with a pulmonary embolism, a sudden blockage of a major blood vessel or artery in the lung. As a post-operative patient, Batke fell into the category of patients who develop pulmonary embolism who cannot be administered a clot-busting medication.
Thankfully, patients like Batke now have another option in the Edmonton Zone. The new procedure uses continuous X-ray imaging to guide a catheter (a long, thin tube) inside a vein to travel through the heart and reach the lungs to remove dangerous blood clots.
Once the clots are removed, blood flow is restored immediately, significantly reducing risk of heart failure and death. Because it's minimally invasive, these patients typically go home sooner than those who undergo thoracic surgery.
"For post-operative patients where medication is not an option, immediate removal of the clots is essential to saving the patient," says Dr. Kiran Reddy, one of several interventional radiologists in Edmonton who perform the new procedure.
"The risk of death is very high with post-surgical patients presenting with a pulmonary embolism, so the ability to act quickly and remove the clots in an interventional suite is a game-changer for patients."
Most patients are under mild sedation during the procedure, which typically lasts one to two hours. Many patients often feel immediate symptom relief during the procedure, which is designed for the minimally invasive removal of large clots in a single session.
This procedure was first performed last March as part of a pilot project at Royal Alexandra and University of Alberta Hospitals, and is now the standard treatment at these two hospitals, as well as at the Stollery Children's Hospital. More than 50 have been performed in the Edmonton Zone over the past year-and-a-half.
Batke says he feels the new procedure brings a lot of hope to post-operative patients like him.
"Dr. Reddy spent two hours cleaning out my lungs, including one clot that was eight inches long," says Batke.
"I was out of the hospital four days later feeling immediate relief from my chest. I had a life-saving procedure that didn't involve invasive surgery. I am so thankful.”
