Impacto da escleroterapia com espuma de polidocanol guiada por ultrassom em pacientes com úlcera venosa

Abstract

Background: Ultrasound-guided polidocanol foam sclerotherapy is used to treat patients with venous ulcers. It is a minimally invasive procedure and is simple to perform, but it has high relapse rates. Objectives: To report short to medium term results in patients with venous ulcers treated using ultrasound-guided polidocanol foam sclerotherapy. Methods: A sample of 19 patients who had been treated with ultrasound-guided polidocanol foam sclerotherapy between January 2013 and December 2014 were followed-up. Time taken for ulcers to heal, improvement of clinical symptoms, recanalization of treated veins, and relapse of symptoms and of venous ulcers were analyzed. Results: Fifteen of the patients analyzed were female (78.9%) and four were male (21.1%). Overall mean age was 53 years. Follow-up times ranged from 448 days to 1,276 days (mean of 791 days). The mean duration of active ulcers was 53 months. At postoperative follow-up assessments, total recanalization was observed in 15.7%, partial recanalization in 21%, and occlusion in 47.3% of the veins that had been treated. There was only one case of ulcer relapse. Analysis of mean Venous Clinical Severity Scores (VCSS) revealed a significant difference from before to after the procedure, with a variation of 11.2 (p < 0.01). Conclusions: Ultrasound-guided foam sclerotherapy has high rates of therapeutic success and achieves high rates of venous ulcer healing.