Randomised trial of bandaging after sclerotherapy for varicose veins.

The injection treatment of varicose veins has been practised for at least a century. The technique fell into disrepute in the early half of this century with the realisation that significant complications and recurrence could result from spreading thrombophlebitis and damage to adjacent previously unaffected segments of varicose vein (1, 7) and for many Years surgery was the treatment of choice. However, in 1963 Fegan (7) described the principles of successful compression sclerotherapy and his technique has been widely adopted since then. The basis of this technique involves the maintenance of firm uninterrupted compression for a minimum of 6 weeks, thereby preventing the formation and spread of thrombosis. As many patients find this period uncomfortable, some surgeons have modified Fegan’s original principle and shorten the period of bandages, but there have been no controlled studies to evaluate the importance of the period of compression. We therefore conducted a randomised prospective trial to compare the results of compression bandaging for 3 weeks and 6 weeks after sclerotherapy.