Advanced Vein Care
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Your legs are made up of a network of veins. Healthy leg veins contain valves that open and close to assist the return of blood back to the heart. Venous reflux disease develops when the valves that keep blood flowing out of the legs and back to the heart become damaged or diseased. This can cause blood to pool in your legs and lead to symptoms such as pain, swelling, swollen limbs, leg heaviness and fatigue, skin changes and skin ulcers, and varicose veins.

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Varicose Veins

Varicose veins are known for their distinctive blue color and bulging appearance on the skin. Resembling large, elongated worms, they afflict an estimated 10%-20% of the adult population. In the United States, that translates into 20-25 million people, the majority of whom are women. To prevent blood from flowing in the wrong direction, veins have numerous valves. When these valves become damaged, this causes the vein to hold more blood at higher pressure than normal. That forces blood back into superficial veins and back down the leg, making the affected leg swell and feel heavy.

To succeed, treatment must stop this reverse flow at the highest site or sites of valve failure. In the legs, veins close to the surface of the skin drain into larger veins, such as the saphenous vein, which run up to the groin. Damaged valves in the saphenous vein are often the cause of reversed blood flow back down into the surface veins.

Unsightly and uncomfortable, varicose leg veins can promote swelling in the ankles and feet and itching of the skin. They may occur in almost any part of the leg but are most often seen in the back of the calf or on the inside of the leg between the groin and the ankle. Left untreated, patient symptoms are likely to worsen with some possibly leading to venous ulceration.

Dr. G. Rodney Buzzas

Dr. Jana Van Amburg

Click here to view an animated video explanation of venous reflux.

Symptoms

Varicose veins may ache, and feet and ankles may swell towards day's end, especially in hot weather. Varicose veins can get sore and inflamed, causing redness of the skin around them. In some cases, patients may develop venous ulcerations.

Risk Factors

Conditions contributing to varicose veins include genetics, obesity, pregnancy, hormonal changes at menopause, work or hobbies requiring extended standing, and past vein diseases such as thrombophlebitis (i.e. inflammation of a vein as a blood clot forms.) Women suffer from varicose veins more than men, and the incidence increases to 50% of people over age 50.

Options For Treatment

In many cases, varicose veins can be treated with simple self-care measures, such as exercise, wearing compression stockings, elevating and resting the legs, and avoiding long periods of sitting or standing. However, this will not necessarily prevent them from worsening because the underlying disease (venous reflux) has not been addressed. In these instances, a variety of medical & surgical procedures that are used to treat varicose veins and venous reflux disease are outlined below.

Sclerotherapy

A chemical injection, such as a saline or detergent solution, is injected into a vein causing it to “spasm” or close up. Other veins then take over its work. This may bring only temporary success and varicose veins frequently recur. It is most effective on smaller surface veins, less than 1-2mm in diameter.

Ambulatory Phlebectomy

As with sclerotherapy, ambulatory phlebectomy is a surgical procedure for treating surface veins in which multiple small incisions are made along a varicose vein and it is "fished out" of the leg using surgical hooks or forceps. The procedure is done under local or regional anesthesia, in an operating room or an office "procedure room."

Vein Stripping

If the source of the reverse blood flow is due to damaged valves in the saphenous vein, the vein may be removed by a surgical procedure known as vein stripping. Under general anesthesia, all or part of the vein is tied off and pulled out. The legs are bandaged after the surgery but swelling and bruising may last for weeks.

The Closure ® Procedure

Since valves can't be repaired, the only alternative is to re-route blood flow through healthy veins. The Closure procedure is a minimally invasive technique in which a thin catheter is inserted into the vein through a small opening. The catheter delivers radiofrequency (RF) energy to the vein wall, causing it to heat, collapse, and seal shut. The Closure procedure provides a less invasive alternative to vein stripping by simply closing the problem vein instead of surgically removing it. Once the diseased vein is closed, other healthy veins take over and empty blood from your legs.

Watch the videos:

The Closure Procedure

RFA (Radiofrequency Ablation)

More on the Closure Procedure

For more information regarding the Closure Procedure, please contact us or visit their website.