Abstract:

Aim To compare the procedural pain intensity measured with VAS in patients undergoing thermal or non-thermal ablation of lower extremity veins for chronic venous insufficiency (CVI). Material and Method Patients who underwent a venous procedure, either thermal or non-thermal, in our clinic between June 2022 and December 2022 evaluated for inclusion to this retrospective study. The patients with available complete medical records in the database of the health center were included. Patients who had a history of deep venous thrombosis, thrombophlebitis, a venous intervention or who underwent open surgical venous procedure were excluded. Patients were asked to draw a line representing the intensity of the procedural pain on visual analogue scale (VAS). Results A total of 183 patients were evaluated and 60 (100%) patients whom complete medical records were available were included. The non-thermal ablation group included 30 (50%), the thermal ablation group included 30 (50%) patients. There were 14 (46.67%) males in non-thermal ablation group, 12 (40.00%) in thermal ablation group (P=0.602). The mean age in the non-thermal ablation group was 47.10 ± 9.84 years, 44.70 ± 8.84 years in the thermal ablation group (P=0.324). The procedure duration was significantly longer in thermal ablation group (22.70 ± 4.45 min in non-thermal ablation group vs 33.10 ± 3.64 min in thermal ablation group, P<0.001). VAS score was significantly higher in thermal ablation group (46.63 ± 15.76 in non-thermal ablation group vs 61.13 ± 10.65 thermal ablation group, P=0.001). Conclusion The endovenous non-thermal ablation of vena saphena magna (VSM) with cyanoacrylate is a more comfortable and less painful alternative for the thermal ablation technique for the patients with CVI. Keywords: Chronic venous insufficiency cyanoacrylate radiofrequency vena saphena magna thermal ablation.

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