Chronic Venous Insufficiency
Advanced Robotics and Laparoscopic Surgeons serving Roseville, Carmichael, Folsom, Grass Valley, Sacramento, CA, and the surrounding areas
Are you having pain, skin problems, and varicose veins in your legs? It might be because of chronic venous insufficiency (CVI) which hinders the blood flow to your legs. If you have CVI, the team at Sierra Pacific Surgical, which serves Roseville, Carmichael, Folsom, Grass Valley, and Sacramento, CA, provides conservative therapies and cutting-edge treatments, including radiofrequency ablation (RFA), sclerotherapy, and phlebectomy. Call Sierra Pacific Surgical to learn more or request an appointment online today.
Chronic venous insufficiency (CVI) is a condition that develops because the valves in your leg veins aren’t working correctly.
Valves are there to prevent the backflow of blood down your legs and instead keep blood traveling forward toward your heart.
Damage to the valves means they can’t hold a seal, leading to pooling of the blood. This results in swelling and skin changes typically seen in patients who have CVI.
Two common causes of CVI are deep vein thrombosis (DVT) and superficial venous thrombosis. These are both conditions where blood clots form in the veins, leading to permanent valve damage.
You’re more likely to develop CVI if any of your relatives have the disease or other vein problems like varicose veins. Weakness in your leg muscles and being overweight can also contribute to developing CVI.
Symptoms of chronic venous insufficiency commonly seen at Sierra Pacific Surgical include:
You might also have wounds on your lower legs that don’t heal well. The sooner you get treatment for CVI, the better the outcomes are likely to be.
The first step in treating CVI is to reduce the pressure in your veins by elevating your legs, using compression stockings, and getting regular exercise.
These methods use gravity and the muscles in your legs to push blood forward toward your heart. If you’re overweight, losing the excess pounds also helps considerably.
If conservative methods aren’t helping, you might need to undergo some of the advanced treatments for CVI available at Sierra Pacific Surgical:
Vascular specialists recognize RFA as the gold standard for treating CVI, replacing traditional vein-stripping surgery. RFA techniques are straightforward, extremely effective, and minimally invasive, and they take about 20 minutes. Under a local anesthetic, your provider makes a small incision on your inner leg, using ultrasound images to guide a microscopic tube, called a catheter, into the vein. The catheter generates radiofrequency waves that heat the vein tissue and collapse it, so blood flow reroutes to healthy veins.
Sclerotherapy is an extremely effective, minimally invasive procedure that involves injecting a substance called a sclerosant into a vein. The sclerosant shrinks the inside of the vein, causing it to collapse, and over time, your body absorbs the treated vein. Sclerotherapy takes 5-30 minutes, depending on the number and size of the veins you’re having treated.
Phlebectomy is a minimally invasive technique for removing any remaining veins after you’ve already had a treatment like RFA to close bulging veins. The procedure involves making tiny incisions that allow a small instrument to penetrate and remove the veins. Phlebectomy is an outpatient procedure you might have at the same time as sclerotherapy.
If your legs are feeling heavy or painful, or you can see the veins, call Sierra Pacific Surgical or request an appointment online today.