Sclerotherapy is a type of therapy administered to patients who suffer from blood diseases such as spider veins, smaller varicose veins, and hydroceles.in this therapy, sodium tetradecyl sulfate, or polidocanol which is mixed with carbon dioxide and injected into the blood vessels (a, 1996). It works by shrinking the vessel and enabling the body to absorb it completely
Sclerotherapy has been used for approximately one hundred and fifty years now, and the first time this process experimented on someone was when D Zollicoffer who injected acid into a blood vessel to induce thrombus formation. The first successfully recorded therapy, however, was in 1853. It started catching on in 1854 when Desgranges injected 16 people with iodine and tannin and cured them (Beiko, 2003). This type of treatment was abandoned in 1894 due to the several side effects that were associated with it and stripped becoming the better-preferred mode of therapy. The next time this was used widely was in the 1960’s when George Fagan treated over 13,000 people and also in the 1980’s when duplex ultrasonography was introduced (Whiteley MS, 2014).
In this form of varicose veins treatment, the affected vein is first identified using ultrasound then the same ultrasound is what is used when injecting the dedicated thread with the foamed sclerosant drug. These drugs comprise of sodium tetradecyl sulfate, or polidocanol which is mixed with carbon dioxide or air in a syringe and what this does is it makes the vein to shrink after which the body absorbs it into the system over a period. (a, 1996)
This process is used to treat varicose veins and spider veins which is an occurrence where the vein swells and twists. The swelling happens when the valves which are responsible for ensuring that blood doesn’t flow back into the threads any longer work properly. This backflow results in the blood flowing backwards and making the blood vessels to flow. This condition is most common in blood vessels that are in the legs. A varicose vein is a condition which is non-lethal but should be treated because one who has it experiences pain and cannot stand for w extended period.
References
a, k. (1996). Saphenofemoral incompetence treated by ultrasound-guided sclerotherapy. Int. p.
Beiko, D. T. (2003, April). Aspiration and Sclerotherapy versus hydrocelectomy for treatment of hydroceles, Urology Vol. Retrieved from Aspiration and Sclerotherapy versus hydrocelectomy for therapy of hydroceles, Urology Vol.
Whiteley MS, P. S. (2014, October). Modified Tessari Tourbillon technique for making foam sclerotherapy with silicone-free syringes. Retrieved from Modified Tessari Tourbillon technique for making foam sclerotherapy with silicone-free syringes.