How To Treat Venous Insufficiency

Ligation

In cases where an individual has veins in the legs that are not vital for its functioning, ligation and stripping may be recommended as an option to treat their venous insufficiency. Ligation refers to a surgical procedure not as invasive as a vein bypass, repair, or transplant, where the incompetent vein is cut and tied off so that blood is no longer able to travel through it. This forces blood to route through other healthy veins in the legs to reach the heart. This method can only be utilized when an absence of the affected vein will not exacerbate the severity of the individual's venous insufficiency. When the vein is tied off and has no blood flow, the body eventually breaks it down and absorbs it. However, if the vein is severely damaged, it may need to be removed from the body altogether after being tied off, instead of just cut. The reason behind this is the damaged vein can release toxic byproducts into nearby tissues. The surgeon performing the ligation can determine whether the vein will need to be removed during the procedure.

Vein Bypass

A vein bypass is a treatment option available for deep leg veins affected by venous insufficiency when a valve repair is not feasible. During a vein bypass, a healthy vein has to be identified in close proximity to the incompetent vein. Once a healthy vein has been identified, the incompetent vein is cut and rerouted to the identified healthy vein. An incision is made in the healthy vein below the location of its valve, and the rerouted vein is sutured to that opening. In some cases, the rerouted vein may need to be lengthened or modified in another way before it can be successfully sutured into the healthy vein. This rerouting allows for the blood to bypass the part of the incompetent vein where the non-functional valve is located and go directly into another vein with a working valve. While this procedure has shown to be helpful for many individuals with venous insufficiency, it is not always a permanent solution. The healthy valve has to be able to support the extra workload of the rerouted blood. In some cases, the healthy valve becomes damaged or worn out, and further intervention is needed at a later time.