Clinical Research Of Endovenous Laser Therapy For Lower Extremity Varicose Vein

Objective (1) To observe and describe gross morphological changes of varicose veins underwent endovenous laser treatment (EVLT) with serial duplex scanning, to explore the mechanism of EVLT for lower extremity varicose vein. (2) Patients were evaluated and with Duplex US and photoplethysmograph (PPG) To assess clinically efficacy of EVLT for lower extremity varicose vein.Methods Twelve patients with 14 great saphenous varicose veins underwent EVLT at this study. Only patients with primary varicose veins caused by SFJ incompetence were included in this study. According to previous mark, great saphenous vein(GSV) was entered at ankle level or below knee via a percutaneous needle puncture (18-gauge needle). A 5-F catheter was placed into the GSV and advanced up to the pretreatment marking over a 0.035-inch diameter guide wire. The guide wire then was replaced by a sterile, bare-tipped 600μm diameter laser fiber. The distal tip of the laser fiber was positioned at 1-2cm below the SFJ with the guidance of the red aiming beam. The catheter was withdrawn to expose the distal 3cm of the bare-tipped laser fiber according to pretreatment length mark. The laser fiber was connected to an 810-nm diode laser (DIOMED 30, UK). The operator withdrawn slowly the laser fiber and catheter in 2-3mm/s as laser energy was delivered endovenously, the assistor manually pressured GSV with chilled water gauze and removed along the laser fiber tip simultaneously. All patients were evaluated clinically and were re-examined by duplex US and PPG at 1 week and 1,3,6,12 and 24 months after operation.