Varicose Vein Update

One in two Americans over the age of 50 suffers or will suffer from varicose veins--those unsightly rope-like big vessels in the legs caused by abnormal circulation. But now, a new procedure is providing patients some relief.

The new treatment for varicose veins is a minimally-invasive procedure "already proven to work in the major veins of the legs- that researchers are saying can be adapted for the minor ones as well, which account for roughly 20% of all cases. Dr. Robert Min, an interventional radiologist and Director of Cornell Vascular, says, "The majority of people with varicose veins suffer from symptoms. And, they're looking not just to make their legs look better, but for symptomatic relief as well." Bumpy, lumpy, unsightly varicose veins can make a person's legs can grow tired or heavy and at their worst, can cause night cramps and so-called restless legs. Varicose veins can even cause ulcerations.

In recent years, doctors have only been able to really successfully treat what are known as the "great saphenous veins"-- the major veins in the legs with blood reflux-- or blood flow problems. Now, Dr. Min, reporting at the Radiological Society of North America Annual Meeting, says he can treat the other affected veins in the legs, the non-great saphenous veins. "In the hundreds of cases we've done, there has not been a single complication," claims Dr. Min. To treat varicose veins, Min adapted the endovenous laser procedure -- which he pioneered-- and then studied 200-patients over the course of 5-years. "What we do is place the patient under local anesthetic and introduce the laser directly into the vein, then seal the vein closed." The object is to stop the pooling of blood and the stretching of the vessels which causes varicose veins. "Over 99% of our patients have experienced symptomatic relief, which happens very quickly, over the first month," says Dr. Min.

The patients are literally able to walk away that day. It depends on the patient and the number of veins involved, but Dr. Min says it is practically a lunch-hour procedure. Dr. Min says there are also less worries about heat damage to the skin or nearby nerves, and blood loss. "Recurrence for a treated vein will occur in less than 5% of the cases," he states. Dr. Min says it is critical for people with varicose veins to get a proper diagnosis with guided imaging like an ultrasound. That way doctors can figure out exactly what veins are affected and how many. Only then, he says, can a doctor guide a patient to the proper treatment: either endovenous laser or surgery or even sclerotherapy, which involves injections that scar the varicose vein. A person genetically predisposed to varicose veins however will not necessarily be free of them forever. But if treated well, they just might be able to step out in shorts or a skirt without thinking twice.

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