Laser therapy

What is laser therapy?

Laser surgery involves intensely beaming pulsating light in the interior of the varicose vein. The vascular laser will heat the blood inside the blood vessel which will cause the closing of the vein. After cutting off the blood flow to the varice, it may be eliminated from the body as dead tissue.

Instructions for laser therapy

Laser therapy has two types: simple and endovenous. The simple method is used to treat superficial varices. The endovenous method is applied in the case of large varicose veins.

Simple laser therapy can be applied to treat varicose veins under the surface of the skin, and usually this procedure has to be repeated during several sessions to provide optimal results. This treatment method is used as a follow-up procedure to eliminate residual small veins after having eliminated the larger ones earlier on with the aid of sclerotherapy of endovenous treatments.

Endovenous laser therapy is able to eliminate large veins as well as superficial ones.

The process of laser therapy

A fiber optic thread is introduced through a puncture entrance point. This is connected to a laser diode which will destroy the varicose vein by melting the vein’s wall through overheating it. By radiating light to a specific location, the blood temperature will grow, and the vein will be eliminated by a process of fibrosis. Thus the intense pulsating light of the laser emits energy, which selectively destroys abnormal veins. The laser will only harm a very small part of the area in which it operates, and the type of skin of the patient does not influence its working in any way. There are no counterindications pertaining to the patient’s type of skin. Laser therapy involves 3-5 sessions of 15-20 minutes or of 30-45 minutes.

The intervention is carried out with the use of a local or general anesthetic and leaves no visible scars.

The advantages of the procedure

1. Laser therapy provides the patient with a rapid recovery.
2. The treatment is followed by a minimal discomfort and a total lack of post-op pain.
3. This procedure is a minimally invasive one, so the lack of visible scars is one of the most prevalent benefits provided by this modern treatment method as opposed to traditional surgical interventions. Post-op scars, which are of a magnitude of millimeters will resemble injection-marks.
4. Advanced live 3D-rendering of the venous system in the intervention area provides the surgery with a high level of accuracy and maximum efficiency (endovenous laser therapy has proven to be effective in 94% of cases). 

Post-op recovery

Laser therapy is conducted in an outpatient setting without needing to hospitalize the patient. Daily activities can be continued on the same day. The following day the patient is able to return to work.

A compression bandage has to be applied for about a week after the surgery to help close the veins. During the first post-op week daily walking is recommended, but standing still for long periods is to be avoided as far as possible. Tiring physical activities should be avoided. The patient should bathe in luke-warm water in the first two weeks after the intervention. Later on these can be substituted by hot showers or baths.

Compared to other traditional surgical methods of varice treatment, the patient will only feel slight amounts of pain, the sensation being rather comparable to a heightened sensibility in the treated area, which will only last for about a week.