Endovenous Laser Treatment: Is it right for you?

Incompetent Valve Progression Most people are familiar with the unsightly bluish-purple blemishes of varicose veins, but many are unaware of the substantial discomfort and disability that they can cause. Varicose vein difficulty is due to valvular defects inside the veins themselves, and occur when the stop valves within the veins fail to propel oxygen depleted blood back to the heart from the legs. Because of valvular malfunction, blood is allowed to pool in the leg veins, causing them to become distorted and painful and, if left untreated, can lead to ulceration and skin damage.

While varicose veins are extraordinarily common, affecting about 25 percent of women and 10 to 15 percent of men (Min 2001), there is still a great void of understanding by patients as to the right treatment for their condition.

What is the EVLT Procedure ? EVLT is a relatively new minimally invasive treatment for varicose veins. EVLT uses a laser that has been fit with a laser fiber tip which is used to introduce light energy into the diseased vein. The light energy, in turn, damages the inner vein wall, causing the collagen fibers to contract and the vein to collapse. An emphasis will made as to the efficacy of EVLT to successfully treat great saphenous vein (GSV) reflux due to incompetence at the saphenofemoral junction (SFJ), “the underlying cause in 80 percent of patients with significant varicose veins.” The clinically based study, Endovenous laser treatment of the incompetent greater saphenous vein (Min, 2001, et al.) will be used as the research model for this work

This study will attempt to educate the public as to whether EVLT is right for them and to prove that EVLT is an effective treatment for those suffering from GSV varicosities due to SFJ incompetence.