Xcenda Healthcare has published its data in 144,098 patients in their database with varicose veins.
The study is published in American Health Drug Benefits, November 2016.
In a retrospective analysis, they have shown that:
100,072 (69.5%) were under surveillance for disease progression and/or received compression therapy
14,007 (9.7%) received laser ablation
9125 (6.3%) received radiofrequency ablation
4778 (3.3%) received sclerotherapy
4851 (3.4%) had surgery (vein stripping or microphlebectomy)
and 11,265 (7.8%) received multiple therapies
The researchers have shown that "during the 2-year follow-up period, among patients receiving interventional treatment, 54.7% of patients received additional interventional treatment (either with the same mode or a different mode from the initial treatment)
30.1% had >1 postintervention claim for symptomatic varicose veins (not including additional procedures) at 8 weeks
and 44.2% had >1 postintervention claim for symptomatic varicose veins at 1 year after the initial interventional therapy
This is a large cohort of patients and the study shows that interventional treatments are associated with a higher need for repeat intervention versus traditional vein stripping.
Dr. Karamanoukian's comment: Although vein stripping is associated with less intervention in the short term, it is associated with higher morbidity and is less preferred by patients and vein specialists as the modality of choice in the U.S. and Europe.