Chemical superficial vein ablation

Abstract

Sclerotherapy plays a fundamental role for nearly all patients in returning their legs to a healthier state: from the young female patient who comes to the practice with a few telangiectasias to the older patient with severe chronic venous insufficiency, leg ulcers, and resulting limited physical activities and whether using dilute liquid sclerotherapy for those tiny telangiectasias or ultrasound-guided foam sclerotherapy (UGFS) for the large incompetent truncal veins, tributaries, and perforators. Of the many patients presenting with telangiectasias to a phlebology practice and professing cosmetic concerns, only about 20 % will be found to have purely “cosmetic” vein problems once they are thoroughly screened and undergo duplex scanning. The others will have underlying venous incompetence contributing to the appearance of the telangiectasias, to a greater or lesser extent, and will require correction of the underlying venous disorder prior to sclerotherapy to treat the telangiectasias. This chapter discusses chemical ablation of superficial veins.