Is it safe to use glue to treat varicose veins?

Is it safe to use glue to treat varicose veins?  For most patients, the term “glue” brings back memories of the classic Elmer’s orange-top bottle, sticky hands and construction paper.  It does not appear as complex or ingenious as most medical procedures which usually involve a scalpel and sutures.  The fact of the matter is that medical “glue” has been in use since the 1950s.  Forms of glue (or cyanoacrylates) have been used in many medical arenas, including in eye surgery, oral surgery and joint replacements, to close skin incisions, and to treat abnormal brain vessels, to name just a few.

Venaseal, the vein-glue procedure, makes sense.  Our goal for this treatment is to close a malfunctioning vein.  This can be achieved by heat, using a laser or radiofrequency energy, which injures the vein wall and cause the vein to close.  Instead of heat, in the Veaseal procedure glue is injected into the problematic vein, causing the walls of the vein to adhere to one another.  At the end of the procedure, the vein is closed with a high success rate and little to no discomfort.  Venaseal is often preferred by patients to the other approaches because it requires only one needle stick with no major post-procedural activity restrictions and there is no need to wear compression stockings afterwards. In fact, patients go home after the Venaseal procedure with a standard band-aid.

Do you have more questions?  Do you want to learn more about new technology in vein disease?  Call us to schedule a consultation: 267-416-9534.