Document Type

Article

Department

Cardiothoracic Surgery

Abstract

OBJECTIVE:
To evaluate the safety and efficacy of radiofrequency ablation (RFA) for varicose veins. STUDY DESIGN: Observational case series.
PLACE AND DURATION OF STUDY:
Section of Vascular Surgery, Aga Khan University Hospital, Karachi, from September 2016 to August 2018.
METHODOLOGY:
Data of RFA procedures performed on 40 patients were collected on a questionnaire from the medical records. It included patients' demographics, pre- and postoperative clinical, etiological, anatomical and pathological (CEAP) system score, venous clinical severity score (VCSS), procedural details and intra- or postoperative complications. Outcome measures were 'safety of the procedure, which was measured by presence of any complications; and 'efficacy of the procedure' which was measured by improvements in the CEAP and VCSS score.
RESULTS:
The mean age of the patients was 44.7±11.5 years. Twenty-one (52.5%) patients were women. Preoperative median VCSS [range] was 7 [2-15], which improved to 1 [0-3] (p <0.001). Preoperative median CEAP [range] was 3 [2-6] and improved to 1 [0-4] (p <0.001). One patient had recurrence and five patients (12.5%) had minor complications, which were treated conservatively.
CONCLUSION:
RFA in patients with symptomatic varicose veins can be performed with minimal complications. This modality is also effective in reducing the disease severit

Publication ( Name of Journal)

Journal of the College of Physicians and Surgeons Pakistan

Creative Commons License

Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License

Share

COinS