Consumer Alert
Today a patient called for a consultation with Dr White to talk about her leg veins. While she was very motivated to get rid of her spider veins, she shared with me that she had received treatment for them in the past with a doctor who had recommended and performed the Endovenous Closure Procedure or EVLT. She was worried because she said that after this procedure she was left with numbness of her leg and was worried that our treatment would make it worse. She also said that the treatment had not helped her spider veins and had in fact made them worse. The doctor who treated her was not a vascular surgeon.
With every treatment modality for leg veins there can be complications, even ours. However, there is an issue that has been on my mind since I spoke to her. The public should know that it is almost never indicated to do Endovenous Laser Procedure for spider veins. This kind of treatment heavy handedness is like killing an ant with a wrecking ball. Effective treatment for spider veins require treatment with more finesse. The only time EVLT is indicated is when it has been determined that the patient’s saphenous vein is incompetent and almost never is it incompetent when there are spider veins. In fact, the saphenous vein is not always incompetent when there are big ropy varicose veins. Determining if the saphenous vein is competent requires a Doppler Exam and/or an Ultrasound. You can’t just look at veins and make that determination.
We recommend that if you have been told that you need an EVLT procedure and you only have spider veins, seek a second opinion and try to see a vascular surgeon for the evaluation. In fact, seek a third opinion with someone who does not have the EVLT equipment. Their motivation may be different.