Spider Veins

Sometime everybody may be affected by it: small venules, bluish or reddish; mainly in the legs or in the face; frequently easily seen on the outside of the legs. Without proper care, such plexus of fine venules may grow up to 4 inches wide and even cause pain.

Need spider-veins be treated? ?

In the beginning, spider-burst may rather* be of a cosmetic problem (*psycho-social sequelae?). In the course however, skin on top of spider-burst may be specifically vulnerable so that even tiniest lesions can cause larger bleeding. Such extensive convolution of spider-burst should be treated in any case!

How should spider-veins be treated? ?

Obliteration, Laser or Minisurgery? ?

Obliteration therapy is still considered the method of choice. Thereby, a sclerosing agent is intromitted into the vein through a special needle, which causes swelling of the inner wall of the vein. Application of a pressure bandage causes obliteration, and the vein disappears after a while. Theoretically even larger varicose veins can be treated by such method, as newer techniques using ultrasound facilitate precise intromission of the sclerosing agent. But as that may lead to hardened vein tracts, we use the method for tenuous veins only. Home Advantages: Simple administration – “lunchtime treatment”. Disadvantages: Success can never be guaranteed. 50-70% of the veins can be treated effectively and within short time. But especially small veins feeding the blood from depth (feeding veins) are often outside medical limits.

Yet a new US-instrument, Veinlite, sets us in a position to detect in particular such veins extending from depth and thereby raise further prospects of successful obliteration.

Laser treatment with spider-veins

Laser instruments produce parallel light of a precise wavelength in an intense, narrow beam. In the treatment of spider-burst, the laser beam permeates through the superficial layers of the skin and reacts with the blood pigments ( haemoglobin) in the veinlets. That leads to swelling of the inner wall of the veins, and the spider-burst disappear. We use laser in particular in cases of tenuous, plexiform spider-burst.

Need spider-veins be operated? Not necessarily. If however a large feeding vein should be detected by the Veinlite, we recommend resection by minisurgery under local anaesthesia. Summary spider-vein treatment (Therapy concept according to UIP, 2001, Rome) - ligation of larger feeding veins by minisurgery under local anaesthesia - obliteration using fine, special needles - laser therapy in the treatment of tenuous, plexiform spider-veins
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