What is Sclerotherapy

Sclerotherapy(Needle Therapy, Foam Therapy for Varices)

As a health condition affecting half of the population today, new diagnosis and treatment modalities are applied thanks to technological advancements and scientific works. Being a disease of the veins, varices vary depending on their localization and causes of occurrence. Every treatment method cannot be applied to all kinds of varices and the treatment is to be decided as a result of a thorough examination of the patient.

Sclerotherapy is the method of choice today for treatment of superficial varices that cause cosmetic problems and give a purplish and greenish look underneath the skin.

Sclerotherapy is also known as the needle therapy. This method is based on the principle of closing the insufficient vein by drug injection delivered by entering the vein with a needle. Bandage and varix stockings should be used to keep the recovery period as short as possible.

Preparatory Phase

Before treatment with sclerotherapy, insufficient vein must be diagnosed. In this process, a detailed physical examination is performed with high-tech color Doppler ultrasonography to reveal the structure of varices and their localization. For those veins that are convenient for needle therapy, necessary medium, drug and patient should be prepared. Since this is a non-surgical method, this therapy can be applied in the clinical setting. It must be decided whether the varicose vein is to undergo foam or medical sclerotherapy.

The Procedure

Following examination and diagnosis, and after proper decision to apply foam or medical sclerotherapy, the patient is prepared with proper materials to be used for the procedure. Sclerotherapy procedure takes about 15 – 45 minutes per vein. The patient must wear varix stockings for about 10 days following the procedure.

As a method of closing the vein with medicine or foam, sclerotherapy may take a few sessions to complete. But the procedure cannot be applied to all varix patients. There are some situations where sclerotherapy may be risky, such as

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  • Pregnancy and breast feeding,
  • Diabetes;kidney, lung or liver disease,
  • Conditions affecting arterial vessels,
  • History of allergies,
  • Any vascular occlusion
  • Use of blood thinners
•  

Although sclerotherapy seems to be a simple method, it actually is a serious procedure that must be applied by an experienced surgeon. It is critical that the patient’s vein mapping and health check are properly done before the procedure aiming to treat the insufficient vein.