New, Easier Treatment For Leg Vein Problems

DANBURY –– Treating varicose and spider veins used to be a painful and unpleasant process, but today, new treatment advances have made solving the condition a lot easier.

Alan Dietzek, MD, chief of vascular surgery and director of the Non-Invasive Vascular Lab at Danbury Hospital, explained the new less-invasive procedures at a recent Medical Town Meeting sponsored by the hospital, “All About Vein Care: New Techniques in the Treatment of Cosmetic and Noncosmetic Surgery.”

 Even diagnosing vein conditions is easier today, with new fiberoptic lights, ultrasound, and Doppler, according to Dr Dietzek.

“Total vein care means that you must treat the cause of the problem,” he said. Sometimes, he said, the problem is only treated cosmetically. “What you see on the surface, is only the tip of the iceberg.”

New less-invasive surgical options also make it easier to treat venous reflux disease, a progressive condition caused by poor return of blood from the legs to the heart, a condition that affects a lot of people.

Sufferers of venous reflux disease have pain in the legs, dry and scaly skin, varicose veins, leg heaviness and fatigue, and swelling. It is more prevalent in women than men.

The causes of this disease include genetic factors, pregnancy, oral contraceptives, obesity, and standing vocations such as nursing and teaching. If you have a family member with the condition, you have an 80 percent chance of getting it, according to Dr Dietzek.

But why do some people get bad veins? “Mostly because of a valve dysfunction,” he said. “Blood goes up and doesn’t come down. The valve is harmed and blood pools in the lower part of the leg.”

Treating varicose veins and other problems should include first treating the cause of the condition. Some of the older procedures only solved the problem cosmetically, according to Dr Dietzek.

Modern therapy, such as a “VNUS closure procedure” treats the causes of vein dysfunction by solving the valve problem. This same-day procedure is minimally invasive and has a short recovery time. It can be done under local or general anesthesia.

The microphlebectomy is a cosmetic procedure that treats only the veins, by removing them through tiny multiple incisions along the vein. It promises minimal to no pain.

Power phlebectomy also removes the veins but does not treat the cause, using a light source under skin and a vacuumlike device to remove veins.

Dr Dietzek recommends that people not suffer with painful and unattractive leg problems. “Treatment not only relieves symptoms, but improves lifestyle and appearance.”