Superficial Venous Science: Obesity, Ablation and Ulcers
Seven Abstracts on Superficial Venous Disease
The opening scientific session paired registry analyses with randomized data and a consensus exercise.
Who Heals and Who Does Not
- Social vulnerability: across 534 patients treated for new venous leg ulcers, higher vulnerability meant longer standing ulcers, more debridement and antibiotics, slower healing at 24 weeks and more recurrence.
- Obesity: in roughly 10,000 registry ablation patients, absolute improvement in severity and symptom scores was flat across body mass index, so delaying surgery for weight loss is hard to justify. A separate study found higher great saphenous vein pressure at higher body mass index.
- Peri ulcer foam: the randomized trial reported shorter healing time and, over follow up averaging 2.2 years, less recurrence and longer ulcer free time.
Comparing and Classifying
A registry comparison found more paresthesia after thermal ablation and more hematoma and pigmentation after nonthermal treatment, with discussants warning that significance in very large datasets is not the same as clinical relevance. A Delphi panel proposed device specific language for thrombus extension after ablation, which prompted sharp debate over whether routine scanning afterwards is warranted at all.
