Varicose veins, surgery effective as lasers

Laser therapy isn't necessarily  better than traditional surgery when used to treat varicose veins, a new study suggests.

LOS ANGELES, CA (Catholic Online) - The latest and largest study concluded to date shows that there are no significant differences between the two forms of surgery and the number of patients who developed new varicose veins two years later.

Varicose veins are a common condition where the valves that ensure one-way flow of blood through the vascular system do not properly close. The result can be unsightly and sometimes, although rarely, painful. The condition is believed to affect between five and thirty percent of adults. 
In minor cases, exercise, weight loss, and compression stockings can alleviate most of the symptoms and prevent the problem from worsening. In more serious cases, however, surgery is used.

Surgery is known as "high ligation and saphenous vein stripping." The procedure is considered very safe, and inexpensive, but the long-term results appear to disappoint. Several patients evaluated in the study had a return of the condition within just two years. Most of the problems were caused by the regrowth of new blood vessels. 

Laser treatment, also called "endovenous laser ablation," is an alternative where a small probe is inserted into the vein which causes the vein to collapse and disappear below the skin. It is less invasive than normal surgery, although it's more expensive. It has become increasingly popular in recent years.

Until recently, only a few, small-scale studies have evaluated the differences between the two procedures. To remedy this, researchers at Saarland University Hospital in Homburg, Germany worked with 400 patients to study the difference. 

The patients were divided between the two procedures and treated. Two years later, researchers were able to reevaluate 316 of the patients. Of those, 16 percent who had laser treatment had already developed new varicose veins. This was compared to 23 percent of those who received traditional surgery. The researchers say the difference between the two percentages, given the sample size, is not significant, and therefore they conclude that both procedures are roughly equal in their efficacy. 

One key difference may be in the patients themselves. Of those receiving the laser surgery, they claim they were happier with the cosmetic results of the laser surgery than those who received standard surgery. However, doctors also caution that those receiving laser surgery were more likely to experience backflow of blood in some situations. That backflow can lead to the appearance of new bulging veins. 

The report is published in the online journal, Archives of Dermatology.

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