Preoperative assessment of primary varicose veins: a duplex study of venous incompetence.

Objectives: we investigated the importance of preoperative duplex scanning in primary uncomplicated varicose vein surgery by evaluating the incidence of superficial venous imcompetence and significant anatomical variations that may be difficult to detect clinically and therefore might be expected to contribute to recurrence.

Design: a retrospective study of a prospectively collected database.

Materials: over 15 consecutive months, patients attending the non-invasive vascular laboratory for duplex scanning of their primary uncomplicated varicose veins were assessed.