Venous disease in the legs has a spectrum of presentations. These range from spider veins and “blue veins”/telangectasias to varicose veins and venous eczema and wounds.
Veins are blood vessels that return blood from the peripheries of the body to the heart. Veins contain valves that prevent blood from flowing back into the legs. In your lower limbs there are three main groups of veins: the deep veins including the femoral and popliteal veins, the superficial veins including the great saphenous vein (GSV) and short saphenous vein (SSV) and the branch veins.
Varicose leg veins are tortuous and knotty veins. They occur due to degeneration of the walls and the valves of the vein. This increases the volume of blood in the veins and allows the blood to pool in the legs. Not only do they give rise to unsightly veins but also discolouration in the calf or ulceration. The spectrum of disorders of vein disease in the legs is termed venous incompetence.
Consultation:
To treat leg vein disease, it is important to understand the disease process. Each persons leg varicose vein disease is different. To understand the extent of the disease and the various treatments needed to manage your disease, Dr. Lakkaraju will need to do a detailed clinical assessment, do certain tests and formulate a plan. Each consultation can last up to an hour.
During this time, Dr. Lakkaraju will get a history from you and do a clinical examination of your legs. Once this is done, Dr. Lakkaraju will perform an ultrasound of both your legs. This will give him an idea of the extent and severity of your varicose vein disease. He will produce and report and draw a vein map which he will use to discuss the treatment of your varicose veins.
Once Dr. Lakkaraju has explained the details of how he will manage your varicose vein disease, he will draw up a treatment plan document which outlines the planned procedures, time it will take to perform the procedure and how long between each appointment. You can then book in the necessary appointments with the administrative team and use this to attend them. He will also give you an approximate costing of the treatment and approximate how much you will get back from Medicare so that you have an idea of the costs you will incur. Dr. Lakkaraju tries to be as accurate with these details as possible but cannot gaurantee that the plan will be followed. There can be undue circumstances that may cause the plan to be modified.
