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Ultrasound Sclerotherapy
Treating varicose veins
For a long-time the only treatment for large varicose veins was to have them
surgically stripped. This requires a general anaesthetic and often a
prolonged recovery. Surgery is not always successful either, recurrences
can occur and may require further surgery. Smaller veins are not
stripped ( they are too small ) and will need sclerotherapy treatment to
get a more complete result.
Sclerotherapy is an internationally recognised treatment and involves
the injection of special solutions (specifically approved by the
Australian Therapeutic Goods Administration) to irritate the vessel
walls and turn the vessel into a fibrous chord. Blood can no longer pass
through the vessel, but this doesn't matter as blood can return to the
heart via the veins deep within the muscles of the leg. Most of the blood in the legs returns to the heart via these deeper
veins.
Two major advances to sclerotherapy are used at the Alia Clinic One is ultrasound guided sclerotherapy (UGS). The same ultrasound
machine that is used to map the veins is used to help guide a very fine
needle into the varicose vein and the sclerosing solution is injected
directly into the vein, so a small dose is used to treat a large section
of vein. It is accurate.
The other is foam sclerotherapy. Since 2001, the Alia Clinic has been
using the sclerosing solutions shaken into a fine foam. Both of the
solutions used in sclerotherapy at the Alia Clinic can be mixed with a
small volume of air. The two are mixed by passing them back and forth in
two connected syringes, making a dense froth of foam. The foam is
injected into the veins. Foam causes a contraction of the vein, and a
larger segment of vein can be treated at a single time, making the
procedure more efficient for the patient. Not only that, foam reflects
the sound waves from the ultrasound, making it easier to inject the
right amount in the right place. Larger vessels require a higher
concentration of solution. Smaller vessels, right down to spider veins
are treated with the same solutions, but at much lower doses, the lowest
concentration is used for each type of vein. Foam is used for these
vessels as well. Interestingly, both medications used at the Alia Clinic
are not new, they have been used in Australia and overseas for many
years, one for over half a century.
| Why UGS and foam
sclerotherapy for large veins treatments? Not just sclerotherapy |
| The complete vein problem can be diagosed before treatment
starts. |
| Less medication is required and fewer sessions are generally
needed. |
| Injections are more accurately placed and more easily placed. |
| Medication can be followed along the vein, ensuring that as
much vein as possible is exposed to the sclerosant foam. |
| The effectiveness of treatment can be assessed from one
treatment to another. |
| More accurate follow-up can be made. |
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Read more about Varicose Veins
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