WHAT IS SCLEROTHERAPY?

Sclerotherapy is a common procedure used to treat diseased or cosmetically undesirable veins. It is performed in the doctor’s office, without the need of a hospital stay.

A very small amount of a chemical solution is injected into the vein at several points through a fine needle. This sclerosing solution causes a mild inflammatory reaction in the vein walls, which then stick together. To keep the vein collapsed after injection, compression therapy is applied by tightly wrapping the area in elastic bandages.

To improve effectiveness, sometimes sclerotherapy is combined with vein ligation, a simple procedure in which a vein is surgically tied off at the end of a diseased segment. Treatment sessions usually take 30 to 45 minutes each. Several blood vessels can be treated in one session, and some varicose veins may require more than one treatment. The number of injections and sessions needed depends on the size and number of veins being treated.

Compression limits the amount of blood that forms clots inside the collapsed vessel and over the following weeks the vein turns into scar tissue, effectively making the vein disappear. Loss of the vein segment, which was not functioning properly to begin with, does not adversely affect blood circulation because other “collateral” veins assume the work of the removed vessel. But most commonly sclerotherapy is used for treatment of veins that are a cosmetic problem for the patient and do not carry any significant amount of blood flow.

Sclerotherapy is also a highly effective method for removing the fine clusters of veins that are often called “spider veins.” This is the most common use of sclerotherapy.