Vein Treatment Options: Diagnostic Ultrasound
Posted: Sunday, September 1, 2013 | Revised: October 7, 2013
Vein Treatment Options: Diagnostic Ultrasound
Diagnostic ultrasound is an important tool for doctors who perform various types of vein treatment. This test allows doctors to visualize veins and other structures lying beneath the skin. Diagnostic ultrasound, sometimes called a sonogram, is the test of choice for evaluating vein problems and one of the more common vein treatment options . Using the newest technology, diagnostic ultrasound is a non-invasive procedure, which means the doctor will not puncture the skin or invade the patient’s body. According to the National Library of Medicine, there are no documented risks associated with diagnostic ultrasound.
A Registered Vascular Ultrasound Technician, or RVT, performs diagnostic ultrasounds in a variety of settings, including doctor’s offices. Diagnostic ultrasound uses high frequency sound waves to create images, so patients need not worry about radiation exposure. These sound waves reflect off body structures; a computer receives these bounced waves and reassembles them into a picture.
The procedure is quick and painless. The technician applies warm, clear, water-based conducting gel to the patient’s leg to enhance the transmission of the sound waves. The technician then moves a handheld ultrasound wand, called a transducer, up and down the entire surface of the patient’s lower extremity to visualize deep and superficial leg veins. First, the technician takes ultrasonic images to create a map of the patient’s leg veins; this first step also helps the technician make sure the patient has no blood clots in her legs. The technician then notes how the deeper veins connect to superficial veins, making it easier for a surgeon to plan the best vein treatment for that patient.
After using diagnostic ultrasound to check the vein anatomy, the technician uses the machine to evaluate the function of the veins in the patient’s leg. The technician uses a device similar to a blood pressure cuff to squeeze the leg and force blood through the veins; this is done to find out if the valves inside the veins are working properly. In a patient with healthy valves, the blood simply stops after the technician stops squeezing. If the valves are dysfunctional, blood flows backwards towards the feet, refilling the vein, when the technician releases the squeeze. Doctors refer to blood flowing backwards as “reflux.” Knowing if and where reflux is present in veins below the skin surface allows the root of the problem to be corrected, making vein treatment more successful.
Diagnostic ultrasound helps a doctor determine the best vein treatment for each patient. Vein treatments following diagnostic ultrasound include endovenous ablation to treat reflux resulting in varicose veins, and microphlebectomy and sclerotherapy for smaller varicose veins and spider veins.
Physicist Jean Daniel Colladon was the first to use ultrasound technology to solve a problem in 1826, when he used an underwater church bell to prove the speed of sound travels faster through water than through air. Ultrasound technology gained popularity after the sinking of the Titanic and during World War I because of its ability to detect submarines and icebergs. Karl Dussik, Neurologist and Psychiatrist at the University of Vienna, was the first to use ultrasound for medical diagnosis when he put the technology to work detecting brain tumors.
Today, ultrasound is widely available to Michigan Vein Doctors, Vascular Surgeons, Vein Clinics, and the patients they serve. Contact your local vein surgeon to learn more about diagnostic ultrasound prior to vein treatment.