New Treatments For Varicose Veins
Varicose veins were treated by a surgery called vein stripping. This required patients to go to the hospital and be put to sleep. The recovery from this surgery was often very long, and patients were often not happy with their results. The surgery also caused a lot of pain and bruising as the patient recovered. Thermal Ablation About 25 years ago, a new varicose vein surgery called thermal ablation was invented, that has largely replaced vein stripping surgery. During this procedure, a small catheter is placed on the inside of the vein with the use of ultrasound. We then surround the vein with a fluid called tumescent anesthesia, which absorbs any heat that leaves the vein. This fluid has pain medicine in it, so patients feel only mild discomfort during the procedure. This anesthetic fluid also helps decrease the risk of heat around the nerves or the skin in the area of treatment. The catheter uses heat to treat the inner lining of the vein, which then causes the vein to be reabso...