Last week, we mentioned that two of our doctors (Dr. Almeida in Miami and Dr. Kaufman in Colorado) had gotten media attention for the work that they're doing using an innovative new approach to vein treatment. Those articles gave you a brief look at the VNUS Closure FAST treatment that they're being recognized for using. Now let's look more in-depth at the details of this new method of treating patients suffering from vein problems such as varicose veins.
VNUS Closure FAST is an improvement on the previously used technology called simply VNUS Closure. Both technologies make use of heat to seal off the problematic veins. The new method of treatment does so much more quickly and efficiently.
"In both of these different types of procedures, the treatment catheter or fibre is passed up the vein, usually under local anaesthetic, through a 2 mm or 3 mm nick in the skin, usually just above or below the knee. The fibre, or catheter, can then be positioned inside the vein at the groin using ultrasound. Anaesthesia is injected around the vein and then the catheter is switched on, heating the vein and permanently destroying it. This means the whole of the major part of the operation can now be performed through this 2 mm or 3 mm incision and under local anaesthetic." (source)
This means that the vein treatment is now a much less invasive procedure. This reduces the healing time required for patients, the pain that would be experienced in surgery and the scarring or other effects of treatment. If you're interested in learning more, take a look at this post that we did back in 2006 of a video produced by VNUS Closure. Then take a look at the detailed description of VNUS Closure Fast here on our site.
Question of the Day: We've pointed out plenty of reports of our doctors using this treatment. Have you heard about it anywhere else?
