About treatment for varicose veins

During your outpatient clinic visit, it was agreed that we will treat your varicose veins by laser. This webpage gives you an explanation of the events surrounding laser treatment.

What is laser treatment?

During laser treatment, a laser wire is inserted into the varicose vein. The laser energy sears the vein from the inside.

The laser treatment takes place at:

HMC Bronovo
Bronovolaan 5
2597 AX Den Haag

Outpatient clinic operating room,
Third floor, route 98.

The whole treatment will take about 45 minutes.

Unable to attend

If you are unable to attend at the agreed time then please call the outpatient clinic where your appointment is scheduled no later than 24 hours beforehand. Contact details:

Outpatient Clinic Dermatology: 088 979 44 03

Outpatient Clinic Surgery: 088 979 43 59

Both departments are available on workdays between 08:00 and 17:00.

Another patient can then be helped in your place. Appointments that are not cancelled, or cancelled too late will be charged.

Preparation

• We advise you to bring someone with who can take you home after the treatment.
• Wear loose-fitting pants and footwear because after the treatment you will have a support stocking around your leg.
• We advise you not to drive a car or cycle.
• Do not shave your legs the day before the treatment.
• Do not use crèmes or body lotion on your legs the day of the treatment.

Who will perform your surgery?

You will be operated on by the surgeon you saw at the outpatient clinic, a fellow surgeon or a physician assistant. A physician assistant is a graduate physician who we train at HMC to become a specialist or who is working at our hospital to gain experience. Physician assistants also perform (sections of) operations independently. The medical specialist is always ultimately responsible for the surgery. By using different doctors, we can plan the operations better and keep the waiting times as short as possible. If you would prefer to be operated on by the doctor you saw at the outpatient clinic, please let the doctor or the Admissions Office know.

The treatment

The assistant will bring you to the dressing room. You are requested to remove all of your lower-body clothing. You will be given operation pants and slippers. The support stocking is measured.

Then you will be asked to lie down on the operating table. The surgeon will search for the vein in your leg with the ultrasound device. The injection site is then numbed and the vein punctured. A guidewire is inserted through the needle. A small incision is made in the skin. A catheter is pushed over the guidewire. The guidewire is then replaced by the laser wire.

Anaesthetic/coolant is applied through several injections around the entire path to be lasered. You will be given laser safety glasses to wear during lasering. The vein is seared. This is not painful and only takes a few minutes.

After the laser treatment

Your leg is cleaned and bandaged after the treatment. An elastic stocking is immediately pulled on. After that, you can get dressed and leave the hospital. We advise you to walk around immediately for 15-20 minutes.

Check-up at the outpatient clinic

You will be expected back for a check-up six weeks later. The doctor will check the blood vessels in your treated leg using an ultrasound device.

Advice for returning home

Support stockings

You should wear the support stocking day and night for the first 48 hours after the operation. The following two weeks you only need to wear the support stocking during the day.

Painkillers

After the treatment, your treated leg may feel sore for one or more weeks. This is normal and will wear off naturally.

To prevent pain, we advise you to take two 500 mg tablets of Paracetamol every six hours.

Exercise

Walking a lot after the treatment is recommended. After the treatment, you may not do intensive exercise like aerobics, cycling or running. You can resume your normal sports activities after a week.

You are not allowed to sit in the sun with your treated leg for the first four weeks. This can cause a (lasting) discolouration of the skin. Standing or sitting for long periods is also not advised.

Possible side effects

• Bruising around the injection sites.
• A sore or painful feeling in the treated area.

If you have persistent pain despite taking painkillers and wearing the stocking, or if the treated leg is red and/or swollen then please contact the attending physician.

Questions

If you have questions after reading this webpage, you can contact the HMC Antoniushove Dermatology outpatient clinic (telephone number 088 979 44 03) or the HMC Bronovo Surgery outpatient clinic (telephone number 088 979 43 59). Both departments are available on workdays between 08:00 and 17:00. We will be happy to answer your questions.

Outside office hours, you can contact the GP service via telephone number 070 346 96 69.