Heartland Vein and Vascular Institute’s state-of-the-art medical center was designed with your comfort and care in mind.  From the moment you arrive, our warm and friendly staff will make you feel right at home. Within our establishment, you will find four relaxing and attractive patient consultation and procedure suites.  We showcase the latest most advanced equipment and technologies offered within the venous community today, like the Cool Touch Laser.

Located in southwest Omaha, our facility is situated in one of the growing sections of Omaha and is conveniently located right off 171st and West Center Road.

At Heartland Vein and Vascular Institute, we serve to make you feel as comfortable as we can so your visit with us is rewarding and pleasant.

About Heartland Vein and Vascular Institute

At Heartland Vein and Vascular Institute, we are dedicated to serving all of our patients vein care needs with compassion and great results. Our state-of-the-art center offers the latest and most advanced techniques available to provide our patients with a thorough analysis, diagnosis, and treatment plan for any type of venous disorder. 

Whether you suffer from varicose and spider veins or pelvic congestion syndrome, our years of experience and our comprehensive approach enable us to properly present the best available options for each of our patients.

“It is our goal to properly educate each patient about venous insufficiency and treat them with the utmost respect.” says Dr. Whittle; a board certified vascular surgeon and founder of Heartland Vein and Vascular Institute.  It is with this philosophy that he leads our team of accomplished specialists in the attention and delivery of medical care.

Heartland Vein and Vascular Institute ~ Revealing God’s love through excellence in health care.

Dr. Thomas B. Whittle, MD

Thomas B. Whittle, MD is a board certified vascular surgeon with over a decade of experience in quality patient care. Whittle, an authoritative source on the proper diagnosis and treatment of venous disorders, is the founder and medical director of Heartland Vein & Vascular Institute, Omaha’s most preeminent medical center dedicated to the advanced treatment of venous disease.

After graduating from Pomona College in Claremont, California, Dr. Whittle completed five-years of residency in General Surgery at the University of Tennessee College of Medicine, Chattanooga Unit in Chattanooga, TN. He proceeded to receive an additional year of specialty training in Vascular Surgery at Carolinas Medical Center located in Charlotte North Carolina. He spent the next nine years as a Cardiothoracic and Vascular Surgeon with Cardiothoracic and Vascular Surgery Associates, in Spartanburg, SC before settling in Nebraska to work with Lincoln Surgical Group. Shortly thereafter, he founded Heartland Vein & Vascular Institute. Dr. Whittle is adept at practicing in all areas of peripheral vascular surgery with a special interest and focus on venous disease and endovascular therapies.

Dr. Whittle is passionately dedicated to the advancement of medicine and is an active member of the American College of Phlebology, The American Medical Association, the Nebraska Medical Association and the Douglas/Lancaster County Medical Society.

• Board Certified, General Vascular Surgery, 1997 - Re-certified in 2007
• Nebraska Member of the American College of Phlebology since 2004
• Member of American College of Phlebology
• Medical License State of Nebraska
• Attends International Vein Congress and American Venous Forum
• American College of Phlebology

Service Offered Include:

• Conservative Treatment /Compression stockings
• Surface Sclerotherapy
• Surface Laser Sclerotherapy
• Ultrasound Sclerotherapy
• Endovenous Laser Treatment (EVLT)
• Pelvic Congestion Syndrome
• May-Thurner Syndrome
• Deep Vein Thrombosis (DVT)
• Wound Care

Conservative Treatment/ Compression stockings

Conservative vein treatment refers to the non-invasive techniques being utilized today in the prevention and treatment of vein disease.  These methods do not require medications or surgery and can be beneficial in reducing or slowing the progression of chronic vein disease.

Some of these methods include:

·         Exercise, diet, lifestyle changes, elevate your legs above the heart at bedtime, weight loss, avoid standing for prolonged periods of time, avoid crossing your legs when sitting, massage therapy, dietary supplements, compression stockings

At Heartland Vein and Vascular Institute, we identify the best conservative treatment for veins to be exercise and the use of compression stockings.

Compression stockings are also another way in which to enhance the functionality of the calf pump.  Their short stretch weave massages the calf muscle as you walk steadily squeezing your legs.  Compression stockings are designed in a graduated fashion; meaning they begin very tight around the ankle and lessen in tightness as they move up the leg. Once the vein blood down at the ankle senses the high tension, it is forced to redirect itself to a less pressured area moving the blood upward in the leg toward the heart. For venous disease sufferers, this feels quite good once you get them on your legs.  Ask one of our team members today about the different strengths, styles and colors of compression stockings available at Heartland Vein and Vascular Institute.

Although these methods will not remove or diminish the diseased veins, they can reduce the symptoms of a vein problem.

Injection Sclerotherapy

At Heartland Vein and Vascular Institute, we employ the latest and most advanced modalities available to care for and treat your veins.  As such, our facility offers Injection Sclerotherapy.  This technique is most commonly used in the treatment of spider veins, but can also be utilized for varicose veins. 

During this procedure, a very fine needed is inserted into the diseased vein instilling a chemical solution or sclerosant.  This sclerosing chemical does not harm circulation, but does irritate the inner lining of the capillaries.  As this happens, the chemical causes inflammation in the vein walls causing them to swell and stick together.  The diseased veins then cease to carry blood and the body slowly replaces them with scar tissue under the skin.  This procedure is very effective as we can cover larger areas of the leg in a single session, but can require several injections for the veins to disappear.   Most patients require several sessions in order to fully treat their spider veins.

Surface Laser Sclerotherapy

At Heartland Vein and Vascular Institute, we offer Surface Laser Sclerotherapy to treat smaller spider veins when appropriate.  It is a less invasive technique when compared to other forms of sclerotherapy.  It uses laser light instead of needle injections into the vein.  During the procedure, laser energy is applied to the skin’s surface directly above the spider vein.  Working across the surface of the skin, bursts of light are focused on the spider vein.  This causes the blood in the vein to coagulate (thicken and clot) leading to the contraction of the diseased vein. 

Surface Laser Sclerotherapy has become increasingly popular in recent years as a non-invasive laser treatment for patients that have surface veins too small to address via traditional sclerotherapy, are needle phobic, have veins that are sclero-resistant or are susceptible to telangiectatic matting. 

Ultrasound Sclerotherapy

Ultrasound Sclerotherapy is also commonly used to treat veins and is offered here at Heartland Vein and Vascular Institute. Today, the latest ultrasound technology allows us to more effectively visualize the vein.  As with traditional sclerotherapy, a very fine needle is used to inject a chemical (sclerosant) into the diseased vein.  With the help of ultrasound guidance, we can isolate the deeper vessels below the skin that are causing your venous insufficiency.  By using this resource, we are able to successfully direct a needle precisely into the source of reflux and administer the sclerosant.  This chemical induces the vein to inflame and the walls will swell and stick together.  The body then eventually reabsorbs the vein and redirects the blood flow to healthier veins for the proper delivery of blood back to the heart.  Successful use of ultrasound to locate and treat the origin of the problem will result in the disappearance of the diseased vein.

Endovenous Laser Treatment (EVLT)

Heartland Vein and Vascular Institute uses the latest techniques in the treatment of venous insufficiency like Endovenous Laser Treatment (EVLT). This is a technology that has evolved from vein stripping. It is a minimally invasive procedure where light emission (heat) from a laser fiber beam is used to destroy the varicose vein wall to close the unhealthy vein.  EVLT is an alternative to both traditional surgery and other treatments that require minimal access to the vein.

During this procedure, the physician inserts a tiny catheter into the problematic vein using ultrasound to guide its entry.  The energy from the laser then works to close the damaged vein and thus reducing the tension on the surface skin veins.  With the vein permanently closed, the body then reroutes the blood to healthier veins.  EVLT is a reliable and simple way to treat varicose veins without surgery.

Pelvic Congestion Syndrome

Did you know that varicose veins can develop in the pelvis?  It is a condition known as Pelvic Congestion Syndrome.  At Heartland Vein and Vascular Institute, we take heart in raising awareness of the proper evaluation and treatment of this under-diagnosed condition. 

Patients suffering from this syndrome commonly complain of pain and discomfort in the pelvis.  Symptoms can range from a dull aching sensation to more severe discomfort, backache, painful intercourse and painful menstruation.  The condition is mostly seen in women (although it can occur in males) who have had children and are left with large ropy pelvic varicosities.  These dilated veins are similar to varicose veins in the legs but occur deep in the pelvis, often due to incompetent valves higher up.

At Heartland Vein and Vascular Institute, our specialists employ the latest non-invasive diagnostic imaging techniques and may recommend treatment methods such as coil embolization.  Additionally and at your discretion, we are also available to speak with your Gynecologist about your clinical diagnosis and the proposed options available to treat your condition. 

As medical care providers, it is important to us that individuals suffering from Pelvic Congestion Syndrome know that Heartland Vein and Vascular Institute can make a difference.  We are very encouraged with the latest modalities that are emerging and the medical community’s desire to come together to treat this large segment of women within the vein disease population.

May-Thurner Syndrome

May-Thurner Syndrome, also termed the iliac compression syndrome, is a syndrome named after the authors R. May and J. Thurner, who first described this phenomenon in 1957.   It is a congenital narrowing of the left common iliac vein due to pressure from the overlying artery.  This squeezing of the left vein from the artery above it makes a person more likely to develop deep vein thrombosis (DVT), which if left untreated can be life threatening.

At Heartland Vein and Vascular Institute, we are experts in the proper detection and diagnosis of this syndrome. 

Deep Vein Thrombosis (DVT)

Deep Vein Thrombosis (DVT) affects nearly 2 million Americans each year.  It is a serious condition that occurs when a deep vein is partially or completely blocked by a blood clot. DVT typically appears in the leg, mostly in the lower part of the calf vein, but has been known to materialize in other parts of the body. 

At Heartland Vein and Vascular Institute, we recognize the importance in the early detection and treatment of this life threatening condition.  As DVT is often difficult to detect, our specialists employ the most advanced medical testing to identity and diagnose DVT.  The following signs and symptoms can occur:

·         Pain, Swelling (unusual and sudden), Tenderness, Cramping, Aching, Redness or other skin color changes, Skin that is warm to the touch,

·         Fever, In severe cases a bluish color of the skin, No symptoms at all

DVT is a common yet serious condition that if left untreated can lead to pulmonary embolism (PE), which can be fatal.  PE occurs when a blood clot travels through the veins and blocks a major blood vessel leading to the lungs. 

The goal for treatment is to prevent the clot from increasing in size or breaking off and floating through the blood stream to another part of the body such as the heart and lungs.

For this reason, Heartland Vein and Vascular Institute pledges our center to diagnose, educate and treat patients in the proper detection and prevention of this common condition.

Wound Care

As health care specialists, we know that millions of Americans suffer from chronic wounds that linger for weeks or months without healing.  At Heartland Vein and Vascular Institute, our wound care team aims to serve these patients and believes in a comprehensive approach to patient care.  Our physician and staff are highly experienced in wound care and can treat your condition often while attending to your venous insufficiency.  Our center allows our patients the ability to handle their treatment needs all within one facility rather than having to visit several specialists around the community.  It is our thorough approach that serves our patients well in the diagnosis, treatment and relief for this unpleasant condition.