ClariVein® is an available treatment option for varicose veins which is:
- Less painful than other keyhole varicose vein treatments
- Quicker in procedure time than other keyhole varicose vein treatments
- Requires no general anaesthetic or overnight hospital stay
- A walk in walk out procedure with a fast return to activities post treatment
- Clinically proven and delivers results in line with other keyhole varicose vein treatments
ClariVein® asked Mr. Usman Jaffer—a consultant vascular surgeon BSc (Hons), MBBS, FRCS (Eng), MSc (Surgery), MSc (Ultrasound), PhD, PGCE, FHEA working both privately and in the NHS in London to describe and comment on the procedure.
In the treatment of varicose veins, it is important to assess and treat the underlying problem and not just the outwardly visible bulges. The important thing is that any of the external signs of varicose veins can also be a sign of an underlying problem. In varicose veins, instead of blood returning promptly to the main veins and back to the heart, leaky valves in the underlying veins can cause blood to pool in the leg veins, increasing the back pressure in the venous system. This in turn can cause the veins to swell, ache and leak fluid and blood into the surrounding leg tissue causing swelling.
Today one treatment of the cause is achieved using a ‘keyhole’ technique – known as endovenous ablation’. This procedure is mostly done under local anaesthetic, i.e. whilst the patient is awake. Traditional endovenous ablation techniques involve the use of a heat energy source generated by either laser or radio-frequency which ‘cook’ the vein from the inside. Such techniques involving heat are known as endo-thermal ablation.
These procedures would be very painful for the patient if it was not for ‘tumescence anaesthesia’ which is achieved by multiple injections of local anaesthetic around the vein during treatment. These injections of local anaesthetic aren’t themselves too painful but patients often report disliking both the need for multiple injections (up to 12) and the pressure felt in the leg as the local anaesthetic is injected and fills the space around the vein to be treated. These injections can additionally sometimes cause bruising.
ClariVein® as an alternative is a non-thermal treatment and as such has the key benefit that it does not require multiple anaesthesia injections around the vein.
Additionally, the initial needle puncture made to deliver the ClariVein® device into the vein is smaller than that required for thermal techniques using laser and radiofrequency.
ClariVein® achieves treatment of the valves in the vein by using mechanical rotation of its catheter tip to stimulate the lining of the vein from inside whilst concurrently spraying a special chemical to cause the vein to close. In clinical terms this process is known as Endovenous Mechanochemical Ablation (MOCA) for varicose veins.
“ClariVein® is a revolutionary procedure which treats the cause of varicose veins, quickly, safely and effectively and if comfort during the procedure is a factor for you, then the initial single, smaller needle puncture required and the total lack of any need for multiple local anaesthetic injections along the vein, makes ClariVein® a good choice”.
Mr Usman Jaffer—consultant vascular surgeon
Endovenous Mechanochemical Ablation (MOCA) for varicose veins has been the subject of evaluation by NICE and many favourable results for the MOCA type of procedure were reported in May 2016. ClariVein® is the only (MOCA) procedure currently available in the United Kingdom.
Our thanks to Delta Surgical Limited for their help with this article. To find out more about their ClariVein® varicose vein treatment, please visit clarivein.co.uk
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