A 60-month follow up study has shown non-inferiority of Venaseal Glue compared to radiofrequency ablation.
What does this mean?
Venaseal Glue is the latest treatment for varicose veins in 2020. It has distinct advantages over heat treatments like radiofrequency ablation and endovenous laser ablation, including minimal procedural pain (only one single local anaesthetic injection is required), no risk of nerve injury and very quick return to work and usual activities.
Although Venaseal Glue (Cyanoacrylate) has been used in the body for many years to treat blood vessels, its use for varicose veins is relatively new. However, a follow up study of a randomised, prospective, controlled, multi-centre trial has been published in the prestigious Journal of Vascular Surgery. It compared Venaseal Glue to radiofrequency ablation and found that at 60 months, the success rate (freedom from recanalisation or reopening of the vein) was 91.4% for Venaseal Glue, compared to 85.2% for radiofrequency ablation.
Furthermore, it analysed patients' improvement in quality of life using a specialised tool called the Euro-Qol Five Dimension questionnaire. It was found that both techniques resulted in stable and sustained improvement in symptoms and quality of life. In addition, there were no serious adverse events reported.
What does this mean for patients with varicose veins?
At 5 years, treatment with Venaseal Glue was found to be safe and effective. When one considers the high recurrence rate of varicose veins for other techniques - surgery, laser and radiofrequency ablation - over 10 years of up to 20-30%, Venaseal Glue is looking quite favourable.
Given the excellent short and medium term results of Venaseal Glue to date, one could surmise that the long term recurrence rates would unlikely be worse that what is currently available.
Therefore, given that Venaseal Glue is the most comfortable and least invasive technique available in the treatment of varicose veins in 2022, plus its effective and durable results to date, it remains an excellent treatment option for varicose veins.
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