A New Minimally Invasive Treatment For Varicose Veins
Written by Dallas Vein Specialists on August 21, 2013
A new treatment for saphenous vein incompetence, the principal cause of varicose veins of the leg, has advantages over the established thermal treatments, namely radiofrequency and laser. The new treatment, ClariVein, has been in studies in the United States and in Europe for the past 4 years. The results in several studies have been comparable to the results obtained with the laser or the radiofrequency catheter ablation techniques.
The advantages of the Clarivein are derived from its combined use of mechanical disruption of the inside layer of the vein and the delivery of a chemical sclerosant to this layer. The result is painless ablation of the treated vein without the use of heat application to the inner wall of the vein. Another advantage is the minimal potential for damage to tissues or structures nearby the treated vein. Thus veins quite close to nerves may be safely treated without fear of injuring these nerves. This in effect extends the safe treatment zone of the saphenous vein to those areas of vein where important sensory nerves course in close proximity.
The procedure is quicker, because there is no need to inject the anesthetic all along the treated vein as is necessary with the thermal ablation techniques. As already pointed out the ClariVein procedure is painless. Only a small skin injection of local anesthetic at the insertion site is required.
Currently insurance companies will not pay for the ClariVein procedure, as they require 5 years of published data showing efficacy. Within another 2 to 3 years ClariVein will likely be more widely used to the benefit of patients suffering with varicose veins secondary to saphenous vein insufficiency.