If you suffer from varicose veins, you’re a member of a very large club. Some 25 million Americans face a daily struggle with the swollen, ropey veins that can cause throbbing pain, severe swelling, and heavy, tired legs.
Half of all Americans over 50, and two-thirds of women over 60, have the condition also called venous reflux disease. And many have dealt with it for decades, because varicose veins can appear even in teenagers.
Once it appears, venous reflux disease never goes away by itself – it’s a progressive condition that can only worsen unless treated. Fortunately, the minimally-invasive, device-based advances in medical technology that have so profoundly impacted heart, lung and brain surgery in recent years are now having a similarly revolutionary impact on the treatment of varicose veins. The next-generation VNUS ClosureFAST™ catheter represents the cutting edge of that technology.
What causes venous reflux disease?
Venous reflux or venous insufficiency develops when the valves that usually keep blood flowing out of your legs become damaged or diseased. This may cause the blood to flow poorly, to pool and swell, or to even cause ulcers on the skin.
How does the Closure™ procedure work?
The VNUS Closure procedure is a minimally invasive treatment alternative with less pain and less bruising when compared to traditional vein stripping surgery and laser treatment. Using the Closure system, physicians close the diseased veins by inserting the Closure catheter into a vein and heating the vein wall using temperature-controlled RF energy. Heating the vein wall causes collagen in the wall to shrink and the vein to close. After the vein is sealed shut, blood then naturally reroutes to healthy veins.