A Comparison of Treatment Options - The Efficacy of Endovenous Laser Ablation and Radiofrequency Ablation Therapy in the Treatment of Symptomatic Venous Disease at a Single Practice Navya Reddy 1, Nagender Reddy 2 1 UMKC School of Medicine, 2 Lorven Heart and Vascular Institute BACKGROUND Over 50 million people suffer from symptomatic venous insufficiency in the US and as the population ages, these numbers are increasing 2 The two most common treatments are Radiofrequency Ablation (RF) and Endovenous Laser Ablation (LA). Each of these options has its limitations however the difference in efficacy of these two treatment options is unknown 1 OBJECTIVES Comparing the efficacy and patient tolerance of Radiofrequency (RF) and Endovenous Laser Ablation (LA) in patients with symptomatic venous insufficiency. METHODS cont. Diagnosis of Venous Disease was based on Physical Exam and Doppler Ultrasound findings. Patient’s legs were examined and location of varicose veins and skin changes were noted pre and post op. CEAP and VCSS scores were calculated as below. Doppler ultrasound was used to rule out DVT, map out superficial veins and locate the site of reflux. Greater Saphenous Vein (GSV) and Small Saphenous Vein (SSV) reflux time and diameter were noted. Only patients with reflux >0.5 sec of the superficial veins were selected for venous ablation. Patients were given local anesthetic and laser ablation was performed. Following procedure, patients were instructed to wear compression stockings for the next 3 mo Patient surveys were conducted at 72 hours and 1 month post procedure to answer 5 variables on a scale of 1-10 including: decreased leg pain decreased leg swelling improved walking distance improved quality of life (QOL) improved skin color RESULTS/CONCLUSIONS CREDITS/DISCLOSURE 1. Eberhardt RT, Raffetto J. Chronic Venous Insufficiency.JAMA. 2005;111: Evans CJ, Fowkes FG, Ruckley CV, Lee AJ. Prevalence of varicose veins and chronic venous insufficiency in men and women in the general population: Edinburgh Vein Study. J Epidemiol Community Health. 1999; 53: 149– Christenson JT, Gueddi S, Gemayel G, Bounameaux H. Prospective randomized trial comparing endovenous laser ablation and surgery for treatment of primary great saphenous varicose veins with a 2-year follow-up. J Vasc Surg. 2010;52(5): Special thanks to Dr Agostino Molteni for sponsoring this poster for HSSRS. Median Values of Patients Selected for Radiofrequency (RFA) and Laser Ablation (LA). Doppler Ultrasound was used to assess length and diameter of reflux in the Great and Small Saphenous Veins. RFALA Age55±5 Gender65 Ms /65 FMs65/65 CEAP score55 VCSS score15 GSV diameter6 ±2 mm GSV reflux time (ms)1300 ± 100 SSV diameter5 ± 2 mm SSV reflux1200 ± 100 One month Post-Ablation Survey Results. Improvement for LA vs RFA was 96% vs. 91% (P=0.7) for decreased leg pain, 93% vs. 81% (P=0.7) for swelling, 89% vs. 81% (P=0.7) for walking distance, 73% vs. 56% skin color (P=0.03) improvement and 96% vs. 86 (P=0.5) for QOL. The findings in this study demonstrate a statistically significant benefit in skin color with Laser Ablation. While both LA and RFA improve the other study variables, there are no significant differences between the two. Future studies need to be performed with larger patient groups and more extensive follow up in order to fully compare the benefits of these treatments. JAMA 2005 Chronic Venous Insufficiency Single site, prospective analysis of 130 patients in each group (RF and Laser) between January 2014 to March 2014 for qualitative review. Patients were randomly selected. Prior to treatment, patient history was obtained. History of DVT, pregnancy, thrombophlebitis and PAD were contraindications to receiving ablation therapy. JAMA 2005 Chronic Venous Insufficiency Lorven Heart and Vascular. Feb 2014 J. Vascular Surgery 3 VCSS Scoring