The Problem of Perforator Localization in Varicose Veins

Abstract

Without doubt, the commonest disease in the field of angiology is varicose veins of the lower extremities. Inasmuch as this affliction is as old as the upright posture of the human race and is easily diagnosed, one should expect that its therapy would by now be well established and effective. Yet the treatment of varicosis has gone through numerous cycles, and surgical opinion is still not unanimous. This lack of enthusiasm for most of the operative procedures hitherto devised can be understood if one surveys the end-results of these procedures.^1-5Some of the unsatisfactory results are due to obvious technical errors committed by inexperienced operators,^6,7but even in the hands of well-qualified surgeons the late results of varicose vein surgery are generally unsatisfactory. The chief cause for the recurrence of varicosis was pointed out by Sherman⁸as long as 12 years ago. He demonstrated that the usual