Lower limb venous incompetence and the effect of radiofrequency ablation versus open surgery : Focus on haemodynamics, quality of life and health economic aspects

Sammanfattning: Chronic venous incompetence (CVI) is a common condition, and varicose vein treatment is one of the most-common surgical procedures performed worldwide. Common symptoms of CVI are pain, cramps, itching, feeling of leg heaviness and venous claudication. Advanced CVI can lead to skin changes, eczema and venous ulcers. While the cause of the disease is un-known, it often starts with venous enlargement and valve dysfunction. The overall aims of this thesis are: 1) to develop quantitative diagnostic measurements using strain-gauge plethysmography (SGP) with standardised superficial venous occlusion and duplex ultrasound (DUS); 2) to evaluate the effects of radiofrequency ablation (RFA) and high ligation/stripping (HL/S) for patients with great saphenous vein (GSV) incompetence; and 3) to evaluate the cost-effectiveness of GSV treatment.   The first of the four studies involved patients with GSV incompetence. For these patients, SGP with superficial venous occlusion was performed before and after GSV treatment. SGP was able to predict the haemodynamic outcome of the treatment in the majority of the limbs examined. The conclusion is that SGP with standardised superficial venous occlusion may be used for predicting the outcome of GSV treatment.   The second study evaluated the short-term outcomes of GSV treatment using RFA and HL/S regarding haemodynamics and quality of life (QoL). Both treatments lead to significant improvements in QoL, with no signifcant differences between the treatments. Despite successful treatment, the majority of the limbs in both treatment groups had significant residual reflux located mainly in the calf (i.e., below the treated area). The residual reflux may be a risk factor for future symptom relapses and need to be examined in more-long-term studies.   The third study examined quantitative DUS and SGP parameters in relation to clinical severity and QoL. DUS-derived volume flow and SGP re-flux time showed weak but significant correlations with clinical severity (C in CEAP). The conclusion is that the current gold standard using the qualitative DUS-derived reflux time for CVI diagnostics should be revised and replaced with a more-relevant quantitative parameter.   The fourth study evaluated the cost-effectiveness of GSV treatment with 1 year of follow-up. Both RFA and HL/S provided significant improvements in QoL. RFA is very cost-effective and is associated with fewer days missed from work compared to HL/S. Cost-wise, both methods are well be-low the national threshold for cost-effective treatment. Due to its higher cost, HL/S should be reserved for cases that require this method.