How to prevent recurrence after varicose vein surgery and complications

Patients with varicose veins in the lower extremities who have undergone minimally invasive stripping combined with electrocoagulation have many questions: Will there be complications from the procedure? Will varicose veins recur? How often do they need to be reviewed? Proper exercise and timely review after surgery are very important for the prognosis of the surgery, so we will talk about the things that patients need to pay attention to after surgery. The most serious complication after surgery is deep vein thrombosis, and doctors will take some measures to prevent it. On the one hand, the surgery is performed by intravenous general anesthesia, so the patient can move independently after waking up to promote blood return to the lower limbs and prevent thrombosis; on the other hand, after the surgery, the doctor will give the patient some oral medications to prevent thrombosis and reduce swelling. If the patient experiences severe pain, increased swelling, or fever in the lower limbs, he or she needs to seek medical attention immediately to be alert to the occurrence of deep vein thrombosis. Will varicose veins in the lower extremities recur after surgery? The recurrence rate of patients after modified minimally invasive stripping combined with electrocoagulation is very low, around 3%. Of course, there are some high-risk factors affecting recurrence that patients should be aware of: first, patients have combined deep vein valve insufficiency, which can lead to recurrence of varicose veins if left untreated and the deep veins continue to regress and the veins in the lower extremities become over-pressurized. Secondly, some patients’ occupational factors are not eliminated, such as teachers, doctors, soldiers, police officers, chefs, waiters and other jobs require standing work all the time, and their possibility of recurrence will be higher. The third high risk factor is obesity, obese patients have higher pressure in the abdominal cavity and in the veins of lower limbs, which will increase the risk of recurrence of varicose veins in lower limbs. The first review is about two weeks after surgery, mainly to remove the bandage and check the wound healing; the second review is three months after surgery, and the patient needs to take a photo of both lower limbs in standing position to check the patient’s recovery status after surgery; then the review is once a year, and the ultrasound of the deep and superficial veins of the lower limbs can be done at each review.