Chronic Venous Disorders

I recently conducted a research study regarding the effectiveness of using Endovenous laser ablation (ELT), with ultrasound-guided foam sclerotherapy, for the treatment of GSV and SSV reflux. ELT is already known to be an effective treatment, and ultrasound-guided foam sclerotherapy is also becoming an increasingly accepted treatment for varicose vein disease.

I’d like to share some of my results, and look forward to getting any of your feedback and questions.

In this prospective, consecutive series of 503 patients, there were 157 men and 346 women (median age: 51, range: 18-83) that were treated. After informed consent was obtained, 391GSVs, 73 SSVs, 15 cranial extensions of the small saphenous vein, 27 anterior accessory great saphenous veins, 8 posterior accessory great saphenous veins, and 15 non-saphenous veins were treated with ELT. Ultrasound-guided foam sclerotherapy was provided during the same treatment session for varicose branches that were not amenable to treatment with ELT. After ultrasound-guided foam sclerotherapy and tumescent anesthesia ELT was performed. All of the patients were strictly monitored and had Duplex ultrasound scanning to evaluate for DVT at 24-72 hours. Thorough duplex scanning was performed at one week and at one, three, six, and twelve months. In the future, after patients have had venous Duplex ultrasound follow-up at twelve months, they will be seen annually thereafter.

At twelve months, reflux was only seen in four sapheno-femoral junctions (1.02%) and one sapheno-popliteal junction (1.30%). Further continued branch vein reflux, seen on ultrasound at one month, was treated with additional ultrasound-guided foam sclerotherapy. No DVT, superficial phlebitis or thrombophlebitis, or superficial burn occurred. All presenting venous stasis ulcers were closed (100%) and all Quality of Life indicators were substantially improved at one, three, six, and twelve months. Initial venous dysfunction scores averaged 9.45, with a range of 4-23. At one month, the VDS average was 6.40, with a range of 1-15. At twelve months the average dropped to 4.93 with a range of 1-9.

In my study, ultrasound-guided sclerotherapy, given concomitantly with ELT, was found to be safe and effective in treating the GSV, SSV, their tributaries and non-saphenous veins. Further study with additional cases, more long-term follow-up, and supplementary in depth assessment of factors that may be related to treatment failure is under way.

I hope you found this information useful. If you have any questions or comments, please let me know.  You can read more at our website www.veinclinics.com, which is a patient resource for varicose veins and spider veins information.
Ted

The information found on this website is not designed to replace the patient/physician relationship.

This entry was posted on Wednesday, May 16th, 2007 at 4:05 pm and is filed under , , . You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.