A minimally invasive treatment for superficial venous reflux developed by VNUS® Medical Technologies has been used successfully by physicians nationwide to treat painful varicose veins – a condition that affects up to 40 million Americans. While past technologies have employed lasers that reach 1,000 degrees Celsius, the new VNUS catheter – VNUS ClosureFASTTM – uses radio frequency energy to quickly heat and close diseased leg veins, with heat levels similar to what a microwave uses.
“The radio frequency catheter goes to 120. The tissue injury is just inside the vein. With the laser, it can go outside the vein. That’s why the patients have more pain,” says Dr. Charles Dunn, a general surgeon. “Lasered patients in my experience had a lot more pain. They required narcotics after surgery. With the VNUS closure procedure, they have no pain.”
The Closure system uses radiofrequency energy delivered via a collapsible catheter to heat and occlude damaged saphenous veins. Using an ultrasound image, the surgeon guides the catheter to the damaged area. The VNUS delivers 20-second bursts of thermal energy to the vein walls, heating and closing the diseased veins. A typical 45-centimeter vein segment is sealed in five minutes or less. The procedure is performed on an outpatient basis, using either local or regional anesthesia.
“A surprising number of primary physicians still aren’t fully aware that we’ve advanced so far beyond vein stripping, and it makes perfect sense to educate them on the availability of such an effective, minimally invasive alternative for people with painful varicose veins that haven’t responded to conservative treatment,” says Dr. Joseph Magnant of Fort Myers, Florida. “The procedure is fast and well tolerated, and patients have none of the pain or bruising of laser.” And according to the authors of a GroupHealth Clinical Review Criteria, “Endovenous obliteration may offer advantages over the conventional stripping operation in terms of reduced postoperative pain, shorter sick leaves and faster return to normal activities, and it appears to be cost-saving for society, especially among employed patients. Because the procedure is also associated with shorter convalescence, this new method may potentially replace conventional varicose vein surgery.”
Approximately 25,000 patients have undergone treatment with the VNUS catheter since it was introduced in the United States in April 2007. Recent European clinical data on the catheter has shown that in patients receiving follow-up examinations six months after the procedure, 99 percent of treated veins remained sealed.
News Release: Technology eases pain, recoveries in varicose vein repairs www.ky3.com April 23, 2009
News Release: Physicians, varicose vein patients celebrate the VNUS ClosureFAST catheter www.ir.vnus.com
GroupHealth Clinical Review Criteria: Radiofrequency Catheter Closure for Varicose Veins VNUS Closure Device www.provider.ghc.org
