Immediate and transient faintness following a course of foam sclerotherapy treatment for saphenous vein incompetence in an elderly patient.
BACKGROUND
Adverse effects of sclerotherapy are rare. They are divided into two categories: immediate and delayed. Immediate adverse effects are mainly represented by visual disturbances. We are reporting the case of an immediate transient faintness following two sessions of foam sclerotherapy.


METHODS
An 80-year-old active female with superficial chronic venous disorder and no significant medical or surgical backgrounds experienced two similar immediate general adverse events following two sessions of sclerotherapy from a total of five. Adverse reactions included faintness, associated with headache but without visual disturbance, lasting ten minutes with full short and long-term recoveries. The common factor between those two sessions was the injection of a higher volume of sclerosing agent compared to the other sessions, 5mL of which was foam.


CONCLUSIONS
Age is not a contraindication of foam sclerotherapy. Nevertheless, we must proceed with caution even when moderate quantities of foam are required.
Selurl Philangio, 30, place Louis-Jouvet, 38100 Grenoble, France. Electronic address: d.rastel@wanadoo.fr.
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D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D012501:Saphenous Vein; D012597:Sclerosing Solutions / Q000008:administration & dosage / Q000009:adverse effects; D015911:Sclerotherapy / Q000009:adverse effects*; D013575:Syncope / Q000209:etiology*; D014689:Venous Insufficiency / Q000628:therapy*
D012597:Sclerosing Solutions
Foam sclerotherapy treatment; Insuffisance veineuse superficielle; Saphenous vein incompetence; Sclérothérapie à la mousse