My doctor isn’t planning on doing the Phlebectomy at the same time. He said later if needed.
In theory, 50% of bulging veins MAY resolve with sealing of the saphenous vein. Many times they will not resolve and in some cases, you can get some inflammation/superficial clotting in them. As a surgeon, I prefer to do all at the same setting. This is more convenient for my patients and also less costly for them. Each surgeon has his/her own preference, so consult with yours.
Published on Jul 11, 2012
Your doctor appears to be following proper procedure. The Radio Frequency Ablation may resolve your symptoms of "bulging veins" without further treatment. If this procedure does not resolve all of your complaints, a procedure such as sclerotherapy may be performed to clear any remaining symptoms. It is best to have patience and correct this problem step by step.
Published on Jul 11, 2012
Most closure procedures alone will not get rid of all varicose veins. Although the companies say that a closure will eradicate the varicose veins, it has been my experience over 15 years of doing this, that microphlebectomies are needed to remove the varicose veins.
Published on Jul 11, 2012
Many varices do resolve spontaneously after ablation. It is not unreasonable to observe and treat at a later date.
Published on Jul 11, 2012
The answer is sometimes. I would say that RFA ans EVLA are procedures that act to turn off the faucet causing the venous disease but often you need further treatments with either sclerotherapy on phlebectomies to get rid of all of the bulging or bothersome veins. Often, we stage the procedures especially if the bulging vein is very extensive to see what will go away on its own after a procedure.
Published on Jul 11, 2012
No. The RF procedure is uses to treat your saphenous vein reflux. It does not directly address your ropey veins or any other vein issues in your leg for that matter. In reality, should you undergo the RF procedure and nothing else, you will have only treated a very small portion of your vein issues. Proper vein treatment requires that the doc treat all aspects of your vein structure from your saphenous vein all the way out to your spider veins. Each of those veins is defective and require treatment in order to fix the circulatory problem caused by your vein issues.
Published on Jul 11, 2012
Your doctor is doing the right thing. Phlebectomy should only be performed if the bulging veins do not go down after RFA. Sometimes bulging veins would flatten out or completely disappear after RFA and you can avoid an unnecessary phlebectomy. However I have to say that chances of veins flattening out by themselves after RFA are very small and typically you will end up having a phlebectomy to remove those bulging veins.
Published on Jul 11, 2012
Initially the saphenous vein ablation is performed first to address the venous insufficiency. If there are still large, bulging varicose veins, stab phlebectomy is performed. Vascular surgeons routinely treat these conditions.
Published on Jul 11, 2012
It is my opinion that waiting to perform phlebectomy is beneficial. Although the phlebectomy is usually required, by waiting the phlebectomy is often less involved, meaning fewer incisions for the patient.
Published on Jul 11, 2012