Outcome assessment after varicose veins treatment
SummaryIt is a general problem in chronic venous disorders (CVD) that there are very few solid outcomes, and that there is no simple manner to evaluate the severity of the disease. Many items must be taken into account: clinical status, anatomy, haemodynamics, prevention of complications, risk of recurrence, patients’ preferences, cost effectiveness, and most of all, patients’ main concerns relief.Assessment through physician reported outcomes has been the most common for decades but a fundamental progress has been made when patient reported outcomes have been described, validated and used. We consider that evaluation–not only of results, but also of the natural history of CVD–cannot be done by a single, physician driven, tool, and that it must include: clinical assessment, instrumental assessment and most of all patient reported outcomes such as quality of life scales. The SQOR-V, developed and validated by our team, serves specifically this latter goal. Use of such an instrument, specifically designed for CVD reduces biases in clinical studies and improves the value of evidences.