Microcautery Evaluation for the Treatment of Leg Spider Veins

Document Type : Original Article

Authors

The Department of Plastic Surgery, Faculty of Medicine, Assiut University

Abstract

Background: Spider leg veins represent a significant
cosmetic problem; their prevalence on the lower limbs has
been reported as two-thirds of patients age 25 years, between
30 and 50 years old. Bad cosmetic appearance is the leading
complaint, and reason for requesting consultations. Sclerotherapy
and laser therapy are the two main lines of treatment
now, with the advantages and disadvantages of each line.
Objectives: This study aims to evaluate the effect of lowcurrent
voltage micrometry using the Ellman Radio Frequency
as an alternative to sclerotherapy and laser in treating spider
leg veins.
Patients and Methods: The design was an intervention
study carried out on 20 patients who had leg spider veins
selected based on inclusion and exclusion criteria for treatment
using the Ellman Radio Frequency devise in the outpatient
clinic of the Plastic Surgery Department of Assiut University
Hospitals from September 1st, 2020, to March 31st, 2022. An
online survey was carried out to identify the epidemiological
community aspects of the disease.
Results: Participants characteristics found the mean age
was 36.1 ± SD 9.7 years, and mean BMI 25.4 ± SD 4.2kg/m2.
The online survey findings showed that the disease was
prevalent among 78.1% of the females, where only 27.2% of
the participants requested treatment. After one session of
Microcautery, the clinical results demonstrated complete
disappearance of the spider leg veins in 25%, very good in
45%, and good in 30% of the patients.
Conclusion and Recommendation: Low voltage microcautery
has a high comparable success rate in managing cases
with specific selection criteria, in addition to the technique's
safety, simplicity, and inexpensive COST. The study recommends
planning for future research to compare sclerotherapy
as the gold standard and the low-voltage micro cauterization
technique.

Keywords

Main Subjects


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