Varicose veins usually occur in the legs. Normally, valves in your veins keep blood flowing. But the valves in varicose veins are either damaged or missing. This causes the veins to remain filled with blood, especially when you are standing. Varicose veins can be treated by removal (vein stripping) or occlusion of the vein. Small vericose veins can be treated with an injection with a salt solution (sclerotherapy). These procedures do not usually cause circulation problems because the blood is re-routed through deeper veins in the legs. - Surgical vein stripping is done in the hospital while the patient is under general anesthesia. Incisions are made at the bottom (ankle end) and the top (groin end) of the varicose vein. A thin, wire-like instrument is inserted into the vein. That "strips," or clears, the vein from the inside. Small incisions can also be made over individual veins to remove them.
- Sclerotherapy is done while the patient is standing. The salt solution is injected into each varicose vein to cause scarring that closes off the vein. An elastic bandage is wrapped snugly around the legs after the procedure.
- Endovenous ablation therapy is an outpatient procedure. The therapy uses heat to destroy vein tissue. A thin catheter (or tube) is inserted into the vein through a tiny skin incision under local anesthesia. Then, using either a laser or radiowave (radiofreqency) energy, the vein is heated and cauterized. This closes off the vein.
Today, fewer doctors are performing the traditional vein stripping surgery as more patients opt for the less invasive endovenous ablation procedure. The endovenous ablation procedure has shown to work the same as or better than surgery. Patients have significantly less pain and a quicker recovery.
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