World J Vasc Surg | Volume 1, Issue 1 | Research Article | Open Access
Guzzardi Giuseppe*, Riva Silvia, Galbiati Andrea, Tanca Carmelo and Del Sette Bruno
Department of Diagnostic and Interventional Radiology, "Maggiore della Carità" University Hospital, Italy
*Correspondance to: Guzzardi Giuseppe
Fulltext PDFVaricose veins are dilated, tortuous superficial veins which usually affect the lower extremities. They can be painful, itchy or unsightly, especially when patients are standing and/or walking. Purpose of this prospective single-centre study was to evaluate efficacy of endovenous Radio Frequency Ablation (RFA) in Great Saphenous Vein (GSV) and Small Saphenous Vein (SSV).A total of 108 extremities were treated for vein incompetence in 98 consecutive patients aged 18-88 years from October 2014 to December 2015 at our Hospital. 96 extremities (88.9%) received treatment for reflux in GSV and 12 extremities (11.1%) for reflux in SSV. All patients were previously studied with duplex ultrasounds imaging to evaluate diameter and tortuosity of the vein to treat and to evaluate the clinical score according with the CEAP classification. During the follow-up we evaluated occlusion rate, clinical complications and CEAP score.Technical success was 100% (108/108). Complete vein occlusion was observed in 100% of patients (108/108) after 1 month and in 95.4% (103/108) after 6 months. The incidence of deep venous thrombosis was 0.9% (1/108). 9 patients (8.3%) with residual varicose veins after the follow-up period needed sclerotherapy (8/9) or perforating vein surgical ligation (1/9). Improvement of CEAP score was demonstrated in 61.1% (66/108) cases at 6 months (p<0.001). No minor complications such as hematoma, paraesthesia, haemorrhage, infection or pain have been observed.Our experience suggests that RFA is a safe and effective treatment for the management of varicose veins with significantly improve in venous clinical score at six months.
Giuseppe G, Silvia R, Andrea G Carmelo T, Bruno DS. Endovenous Radiofrequency Ablation for the Treatment of Varicose Veins: A Single Centre Experience. World J Vasc Surg. 2018; 1(1): 1001.