The Gold Standard
The majority of varicose veins are a result of incompetence of the greater saphenous vein in the thigh. The VenaSeal system is specifically designed to close this vein permanently with a painless, inert, medical-grade glue called cyanoacrylate.
How does it work?
The VenaSeal procedure involves the placement of a very small amount of vein glue into your vein through a small catheter. Once the affected vein is closed, blood is immediately re-routed through other healthy veins in your leg. Unlike other treatments, VenaSeal does not require a major nerve block or large volumes of anaesthesia. Furthermore, there are no pre-procedure drugs involved and patients can return to their normal activities right after the treatment. Unlike heat-based procedures such as endovenous laser or radiofrequency ablation (RFA), with VenaSeal there is no risk of skin burns or nerve damage. VenaSeal does not require any immediate post-treatment pain medication or uncomfortable compression stockings.
How is this different than ‘Laser’?
Laser ablation of the saphenous vein is an older technology that, in principle, works similarly to VenaSeal ablation. Both technologies aim to close the Saphenous Vein in your thigh, which is usually the vein that causes your varicose veins in the first place. While VenaSeal uses a painless glue to close the Saphenous Vein, a Laser ablation procedure uses a high temperature catheter, that ‘burns the vein shut’. Because laser is using super-heated energy along the thigh, this procedure can sometimes cause unwanted pain and discoloration along your thigh. VenaSeal is painless, and leaves no discoloration behind. Additionally, there have been multiple studies that have shown superior results of VenaSeal compared to both Laser Ablation and RFA Ablation.
Click here for the Meta-analysis that compares VenaSeal to Laser and RFA.
Click here for the study that demonstrates that VenaSeal has less pain and complications than other technologies.