VANCOUVER -- Varicose veins are abnormally large superficial veins in the legs. They can be removed surgically, but that requires a general anesthetic and a recovery time of about 3 weeks. Now there's a much less invasive way to treat the veins using ultrasound-guided injections.
Terri Clarke is a varicose vein patient. She says, "its very painful. There's alot of pressure and just discomfort, as it gets worse, the pain doesn't subside, it's all day and all night."
Three years ago, Terri Clarke had her varicose veins surgically removed. But the problem has come back.
Terri says, "it's discomforting in front of my legs."
Dr.Martin Braun, Vancouver Laser and Skin Care Centre, says, "the direction of flow should always be up towards the heart, but when people's valves aren't working in the little veins, the blood flows downwards."
This downward flow of the blood dilates the veins and makes other valves further down fail as well. So blood pools in the legs.
Dr. Braun says, "if blood isn't flowing back properly, it's sitting around and whenever blood sits around, it can clot."
With ultrasound doctors are now able to map out the veins and show where the valves are failing, causing blood to flow in the wrong direction.
Once the problem area is identified on the ultrasound, a drug is foamed up and then injected into the vein.
Dr. Martin Braun says, "that foam irritates the vein and ultimately kills it, the vein will shut down."
The blood then gets redirected to deeper healther, veins.
Dr. Braun says, "there's no recovery time as you have with ssurgery, that's why without a doubt, it will become the standard."
For Terri, she's just glad to have another option other than surgery.
"I didn't want to go under general surgery again and general anesthetic and because the recovery time is two days with compression stockings versus three weeks of full wrapping of my legs, it helps my lifestyle."
With this type of treatment, you have to walk around for five to ten minutes afterwards to pump the foam out of your legs to your kidneys for excretion. Unfortunately, in Canada, this procedure isn't covered under MSP. The cost of the ultrasound alone runs about two hundred dollars, and the medication itself about fifty dollars. In the US, though, it's telling that private insurers now prefer to fund this type of treatment for varicose veins instead of surgery, because it's far less expensive.
Monday May 29, 2006
