Minimally invasive laser treatment (EVLT) for varicose veins of the lower extremities Varicose veins of the lower extremities are a common disease, prone to occur in long-term standing workers, with an incidence of about 25%. At this time, the saphenous vein valve loses the role of “one-way valve” and the blood flows backwards, causing stasis and worm-like tortuous expansion of the saphenous vein, which is imaginatively called “green snake poison” by Chinese medicine; the patient’s lower limbs are sore and painful when standing; when the disease progresses to the later stage, the skin of the lower limbs becomes nutritionally impaired and skin ulcers may occur. When the disease progresses to the late stage, the skin of the lower limbs is nutritionally impaired, and skin ulceration can occur, which is not healed for a long time, commonly known as “old rotten feet”. The most effective treatment method is surgery. The previous surgical treatment method is to ligate, cut and strip the saphenous vein at a high level, which can be commonly called “cramping”, that is, to make multiple incisions on the thighs and calves, and to strip out the saphenous vein in sections. This surgery is very destructive and takes a long time, usually more than an hour for one side of the surgery, and bleeds a lot during the surgery and is uncomfortable with pressure bandages afterwards. The post-operative incision scars also significantly affect the appearance. At present, our hospital has successfully carried out endovenous laser treatment (EVLT). EVLT is an internationally advanced technique for minimally invasive vascular surgery. EVLT is a minimally invasive vascular surgery technique that uses the properties of semiconductor laser conduction to precisely destroy the endothelial lining of the blood vessels and cause fibrosis and vascular closure by puncturing into the blood vessels. This procedure is safe, less traumatic, less bleeding, no scars, rapid postoperative recovery, and low recurrence rate. This procedure has the following features: 1. Treatment is possible with local anesthesia: a slim catheter is inserted into the saphenous vein of the thigh under local anesthesia with the help of ultrasound imaging equipment, and then laser energy is applied to the inside of the vein to thermally close it and cause contraction of the small veins in order to allow those healthy veins to reestablish blood circulation in the leg. 2. Short or no hospital stay: The time required from the injection of anesthetic to the end of the procedure is about 30 minutes. Patients are able to move around the next day after surgery. 3.No scars: Since only a thin catheter is inserted into the saphenous vein of the thigh and then laser energy is applied to the inside of the vein, no scars are left on the skin as in previous surgeries. 4.Effective: The whole procedure takes less than an hour and the patient is able to carry out daily activities soon after the treatment. Follow-up results after two years show that 93% of the veins treated with laser therapy remain closed, which clearly shows that the success rate of this treatment is greater than other treatments and the recurrence rate is lower. 5. High safety: According to recent studies by U.S. experts, laser therapy is also effective in relieving varicose veins in the thighs and can be used very conveniently for outpatient treatment, at low cost, without general anesthesia and without scarring. In the study, Robert J. Min, M.D., of the Weill Medical College of Cornell University in New York, used laser therapy to treat 344 patients with varicose veins. With the aid of ultrasound imaging equipment and under local anesthesia, specialists inserted a thin catheter into the saphenous vein of the thigh and then applied laser energy to the inside of the vein to thermally seal it and cause the small veins to constrict in order to allow those healthy veins to reestablish blood circulation to the leg. The entire procedure takes less than an hour, and patients are able to perform their daily activities soon after treatment. Follow-up after two years showed that 93% of the veins treated with the laser therapy remained closed, clearly showing a greater success rate than other treatments and a lower recurrence rate.