Analysis of a series of patients with varicose vein recurrence.
OBJECTIVE
Varicose veins of the lower extremities is a common clinical condition. Although surgical treatment is often successful, the recurrence rate remains high. This retrospective study evaluated the reasons for postoperative recurrence of varicose veins by analysing ultrasonography  and venography findings in patients with recurrent disease.


METHODS
A series of consecutive cases of recurrent varicose veins of the lower limbs was reviewed. Data collected included clinical characteristics, symptoms and vascular imaging.


RESULTS
The study included 109 legs with recurrent  varicose veins (92 patients): 101/109 legs (92.7%) showed perforating vein insufficiency and 86/109 (78.9%) showed reflux of the superficial femoral vein, of varying degrees of severity. Residual saphenous vein was recorded for 82 legs (75.2%), while 19 (17.4%) had blocked iliac veins due  to post-thrombotic syndrome.


CONCLUSIONS
Several factors that may contribute to varicose vein recurrence have been identified. These include failure to ligate perforating veins and initial failure to perform the appropriate surgical intervention. Prevention of varicose vein recurrence after  surgical correction requires a more extensive use of preoperative imaging, to tailor surgical intervention to suit individual patients.
Department of Vascular Surgery, Shandong Provincial Hospital, Shandong University, Jinan, Shandong Province, China.
W
W
Lv
X-J
XJ
Wu
M
M
Collins
Z-L
ZL
Han
X
X
Jin
D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D010690:Phlebography; D012008:Recurrence; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D018615:Ultrasonography, Doppler, Color; D014648:Varicose Veins / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000503:physiopathology*