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Varicose veins are one of the most common diseases of the adult population.

They are the result of chronic venous insufficiency and more specifically of valvular insufficiency of the superficial venous network (great and lesser saphenous veins).

CAUSES-SYMPTOMS

A) Symptoms that affect daily quality of life such as: pain, edema (swelling), feeling of heaviness, feeling of tension (pressure), itching (itching), numbness (numbness), night cramps, spontaneous bleeding.

B) Skin changes related to venous stasis such as: edema, ulcers, white atrophy, phlebectasias, hyperpigmentation, eczema, lipodermatosclerosis, superficial phlebitis.

DIAGNOSING VENOUS INsufficiency

• The diagnosis of varicose veins of the lower extremities is initially made clinically.
• Varicose veins are easily visible under the skin, while they are also easily palpable!
• It is therefore a diagnosis that is mainly made immediately when the doctor sees and touches the patient’s leg.

Then, with the use of ultrasound (triplex), the diagnosis is confirmed and at the same time the anatomy of the venous system of the specific patient and the veins that are insufficient are recorded in detail.

In addition, ultrasound is used to diagnose those few cases that do not yet have obvious varicose veins.

It is absolutely important that the ultrasound (triplex) is performed by the vascular surgeon himself who will be called upon to treat the condition!

Only in this way can the treating physician know exactly the anatomy of the venous system and varicose veins – only in this way can he treat the condition completely effectively and, of course, choose the method that is appropriate for the specific patient (laser, Venaseal, surgery or other).

THERAPY-TREATMENT

Until 1990, saphenectomy was the only way to treat chronic venous insufficiency and varicose veins. In addition to being a painful procedure and the patient having to be immobilized for many days, it is also accompanied by significant complications such as bruising on the inner surface of the thigh in the central third, lymphocele during stripping, infection of the surgical wound in the femoroinguinal region, numbness in the distribution of the saphenous nerve and others.

The methods of treating varicose veins have evolved dramatically in recent years. Most patients suffering from varicose veins can now be treated with a modern bloodless technique: The Intravenous Laser.

The treatment of varicose veins with laser is minimally invasive, is performed with local anesthesia and does not require hospitalization for more than a few hours

Under ultrasound guidance, a percutaneous puncture of the vein is performed, a guide wire is advanced and a special sheath is placed.

Then, the laser fiber through the sheath and under ultrasound control is advanced up to 2 cm. from the saphenofemoral junction.

Along the course of the vein, a special anesthetic solution is injected, always with ultrasound control, and then the fiber is activated.

We progressively withdraw the fiber by radially diffusing the laser energy that uniformly shrinks the venous walls and permanently seals the affected vein.

The entire procedure takes 20-40 minutes without incisions, stitches or scars and the patient can return to his home a few hours after the operation.

The treatment of varicose veins with the latest generation lasers has excellent results.

Its minimally invasive nature causes much less postoperative bruising and almost no pain or other discomfort, allowing the patient to immediately return to their professional activities.

Approximately 10 million patients have already undergone intravenous laser treatment with proven top clinical effectiveness, which reaches 99%.

In the US, over 2/3 of chronic venous insufficiency treatments are performed intravenously with laser, and this is on the rise.