Sclerotherapy is a common treatment for vein disease. It is a relatively pain free out-patient treatment. In most cases, patients can resume regular activity immediately after treatment.
How Sclerotherapy works
A sclerosing chemical is injected into the malfunctioning vein, causing the vein to seal off. Once the malfunctioning vein has been sealed it disappears and the blood is then redirected from the treated vein into healthy veins. There are a few different kinds of sclerotherapy.
Image-guided Foam Sclerotherapy (endovenous chemical ablation)
This is a relatively new technique in sclerotherapy involving the agitation of a detergent sclerosant with small amounts of air to form foam the consistency of shaving cream. As foam is injected into the diseased vein, it displaces blood and then begins to inflame the malfunctioning vein. It is the inflammatory process that triggers progressive shrinking (sclerosis) of the vein. Within hours blood flow ceases in the diseased vein. Foam is visualized in real-time on a monitor, and thus there is added safety in treating those structures deep to the surface of the skin by knowing the exact region being treated.
Transilluminated Sclerotherapy
This method for Sclerotherapy uses light to transilluminate the skin, allowing the provider to visualize a great extent of surface disease. Not all skin types are the same. If the naked eye is used alone, many veins will be left behind, leading to ongoing symptoms, cosmetic concerns, and/or pure treatment failure. Transillumination allows us to account for the feeder veins that connect to spider veins, allowing simply a far better outcome than can be obtained with the naked eye.
Selected Case Studies
How Foam Sclerotherapy Works
The following video shows an image guided injection of a foam sclerosant after successful treatment of the Great Saphenous vein (GSV) seen as a dark circle in the left side of the image. A needle gently enters the vein in the top right and foam is injected that flows toward the closed GSV, treating a symptomatic branch vein.
How Transilluminated Sclerotherapy Works
The images demonstrate the use of transillumination in a lateral thigh vein. See the dark vein shadow fade as the sclerosant is injected.