ClosureFast endovenous radiofrequency ablation for great saphenous vein and small saphenous vein incompetence: Efficacy and anatomical failure patterns.

Background: Recurrence rates and patterns after endovenous radiofrequency ablation (ERFA) are poorly documented.

Objective: To assess the incidence and anatomical recurrence patterns of saphenous vein reflux after ERFA.

Method: Two hundred patients previously treated with ERFA were recalled for clinical assessment and venous-duplex ultrasound at three years post-treatment.

Hydrodisplacement of sural nerve for safety and efficacy of endovenous thermal ablation for small saphenous vein incompetence.

Background Endovenous radio frequency ablation for small saphenous vein incompetence by and large appears to be superior and safer than conventional open surgery. Small saphenous vein ablation from approximately mid-calf to the point proximally where the small saphenous vein dives into the popliteal fossa is considered to be safe, as the sural nerve is in most cases separated from this segment of the small saphenous vein by the deep fascia. The outcome of the distal incompetent small saphenous vein remains unclear.

The sural nerve: Sonographic anatomy, variability and relation to the small saphenous vein in the setting of endovenous thermal ablation.

Background Neurological complications are well documented in association with both surgical stripping or disconnection and thermal ablation of the small saphenous vein. The sural nerve (medial sural cutaneous nerve) is most vulnerable due to its close relationship to the small saphenous vein. Objective This is a cross-sectional observational study of the sonographic anatomy of 115 Australian patients to determine the course of the sural nerve and its relationship to the small saphenous vein, and to identify its relevance in the thermal ablation of the small saphenous vein.