The procedure takes about 40
minutes but sometimes longer.
You will be asked to sit up on a couch. An
antiseptic solution will be put on the leg to be treated and
special sterile towels or drapes will be put under your leg and
on top of your tummy (abdomen). These are to keep the treated
area clean. Please keep your hands away from the treatment area.
A large sock will be placed on your foot and rolled up the calf.
You may need to lift your leg up without help for about a
minute.
The ultrasound technician will place sterile
jelly on your leg to identify the vein to be treated. They will
use a duplex machine
to do this. Using a fine needle Mr Braithwaite will put some
local anaesthetic into your lower thigh or upper calf. He will
then pass a fine wire into the vein, followed by a tube. You may
get an odd sensation in the thigh but it should not be painful.
The laser produces a high temperature in the
vein so a solution needs to be injected around the vein to cool
the surrounding part of the thigh. The solution, which contains
anaesthetic and a small dose of adrenaline, is injected
into the thigh. This is the part of the procedure that some
people find uncomfortable. Injection of the solution is done
carefully and slowly and can take 10 to 15 minutes to perform.
Once the injections have finished, a laser fibre
is passed into the tube in the vein. You and those people in the
treatment room must then put on special laser proof glasses. The
laser is then started and the fibre is withdrawn. As the
treatment proceeds, Mr Braithwaite may press on your thigh to
squash the vein. As the laser fires, you may have an odd
sensation in the thigh and an odd taste in the mouth. This is
normal.
When the laser treatment has been finished you
may remove the glasses. The tubes will be removed from your leg
and a plaster may be put on the tiny hole that has been made in
your leg.
For some people, Mr Braithwaite may carry out avulsions
under local anaesthetic.
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