The use of the Fogarty catheter in 1998.

Catheter-mediated thromboembolectomy has evolved over the last three decades along with changes in vascular disease patterns. As in situ arterial thrombosis has become more common both in natural arteries and prosthetic grafts, changes in mechanical thromboembolectomy have been necessary to optimize treatment strategies. A variety of devices and techniques are now available for transluminal clot removal including the original thromboembolectomy catheter, newer adherent clot catheters, graft thrombectomy catheters, thru-lumen balloon catheters and methods that involve fragmentation and removal of fresh thrombus by hydrodynamic means.