Review and Benefits of Non-Invasive Diagnostic Ultrasound and Thermal Ablation

Treatment of chronic venous leg ulcers has long centered on graduated compression therapy. Although this therapy is a major component of wound healing, it fails to prevent recurrences. Poor long-term adherence and suboptimal results with compression alone, even in the most adherent patients, has driven the search for a better option.(1) State-of-the-art surgical treatment for all forms of venous disease - from spider veins to venous ulceration - increasingly depends on an accurate anatomic and physiologic assessment of both the superficial and deep venous systems of the lower extremities. This can be accomplished with a comprehensive venous duplex scan of the lower extremity venous system. When performed correctly by an experienced vascular technician, this highly sensitive and specific noninvasive test is extremely accurate for diagnosing venous disease of the lower extremities.