The small saphenous vein and other 'neglected' veins of the popliteal fossa: a review

2007 ◽  
Vol 22 (4) ◽  
pp. 148-155 ◽  
Author(s):  
T F O'Donnell ◽  
M D Iafrati

The small saphenous vein (SSV) and other veins in the popliteal fossa merit little discussion in the literature or in didactic programmes regarding their role in chronic venous insufficiency (CVI) and, in this sense, they are neglected. The purpose of this review is to present both duplex ultrasound findings and the associated clinical characteristics of patients with SSV reflux, from several large series. Both the anatomic variations and the epidemiology of the SSV, as well as other veins of the popliteal fossa, the gastrocnemius veins, Gocamini vein, popliteal area veins and popliteal vein, will be discussed. Findings from our review of the current available literature will demonstrate the important role that these veins play in association with CVI. The implications for open and endovenous surgery will be underlined.

2021 ◽  
pp. 026835552110251
Author(s):  
YL Linn ◽  
CJQ Yap ◽  
SXY Soon ◽  
SL Chan ◽  
VBX Khoo ◽  
...  

Background The Venablock© Venous Closure System (Invamed, Ankara, Turkey) is a novel cyanoacrylate-based non-thermal non-tumescent embolization device to block refluxing truncal veins for chronic venous insufficiency and varicose veins. The aim was to prospectively evaluate the safety and 6 months efficacy of Venablock© for the treatment of primary great saphenous vein (GSV) and small saphenous vein (SSV) incompetency in a multi-ethnic cohort from Singapore. Methods This was a single arm, single investigator prospective study of 29 patients (39 limbs, 39 truncal veins) recruited over a 5-month period (August 2019 to February 2020), who were treated with the Venablock© device at a tertiary vascular unit in Singapore. Patients with symptomatic varicose veins (C2–6) and had truncal reflux > 0.5 second on venous Duplex ultrasound were included. Follow-up occurred at 2 weeks, 3 and 6 months with dedicated quality of life questionnaires and a targeted Duplex ultrasound performed to check for continued venous occlusion. Result Mean age was 61.4 (±11.0) years and mean BMI was 26.2 (±5.7) kg/m2. 11/29 (37.9%) were males. Most common CEAP class treated was 2 (12/29, 41.3%). Mean diameter of treated GSV was 5.7 (±2.0) mm, 4.8 (±1.7) mm and 4.2 (±1.3) mm for the proximal, mid and distal above knee segments respectively. Mean time from access puncture to sheath removal was 23.4 (±10.0) mins. Vein occlusion at 2 weeks, 3 and 6 months was 39/39 (100%), 39/39 (100%) and 36/37 (97.2%) respectively. 5/29 (17.2%) developed puncture site infections, of which 3/29 (7.7%) required formal surgical drainage. 3/29 (7.7%) developed phlebitis. At 6 months, revised Venous Clinical Severity Score improved from 5.2 (±3.5) to 2.1 (±2.9; p < .001); EuroQol-5 Dimension score, from 7.4 (±2.1) to 5.7 (±1.4; p < .001); Aberdeen Varicose Vein Questionnaire score, from 18.1 (±15.5) to 7.9 (±8.9; p = .007); and Chronic Venous Insufficiency Questionnaire, from 18.6 (±16.2) to 4.5 (±6.3; p < .001). Conclusion Venablock© is a safe and efficacious option of treating truncal venous insufficiency in a multi-ethnic Asian cohort from Singapore in the short term. There is a significant improvement in QoL. Longer follow-up is required to assess the durability of this technique, in particular the higher puncture site infection rates observed compared to other glue-based therapies.


2020 ◽  
pp. 39-45
Author(s):  
S. A. Semeniaha ◽  
V. N. Zhdanovich

Objective: to describe the possible types of the interrelations of the small saphenous vein and popliteal vein within the area of the popliteal fossa, as well as to study the distribution of the types among patients of both the genders and different somatotypes.Material and methods. 163 patients (326 extremities) of both the genders without signs of vascular pathology were examined by the method of duplex ultrasound scanning. According to Chernorutsky`s classification, the patients were divided into three groups: dolihomorphs, mesomorphs, brachymorphs. The percentage of different types of the topography of the small saphenous vein was calculated among the examined patients.Results. The term “saphenopopliteal pattern” has been introduced to characterize the anatomical interrelation of the small saphenous vein and popliteal vein within the area of the popliteal fossa. Five basic saphenopopliteal patterns were described including rare ones when the small saphenous vein opens into the gastrocnemius veins. It has been found that the patterns with the saphenopopliteal junction prevail (65.6 %), and in 28.3 % cases the small saphenous vein did not have any connection with the popliteal vein. The gender factor does not have any effect on the pattern type (р = 0.311) but the somatotype factor does (р = 0.038). It has also been determined that there is no direct connection between the small saphenous vein and popliteal vein in one thirds cases in the dolihomorphic and mesomorphic patients (34.5 % and 35 %, respectively), whereas the saphenopopliteal junction develops in 85.7 % cases in the brachymorphic patients.Conclusion. The proposed classification of the types of the topography of the small saphenous vein within the area of the popliteal fossa could be applied for the evaluation of the venous beds of the lower extremities by the method of duplex ultrasound scanning.


Author(s):  
Shayna Brathwaite ◽  
Keri Minton ◽  
Jaime Benarroch-Gampel ◽  
Christopher Ramos ◽  
Ravi R Rajani

2019 ◽  
Vol 3 (3) ◽  
pp. 09-12
Author(s):  
Dr. Ali Sapmaz ◽  
Dr. Serhan Yilmaz ◽  
Dr. Murat Özgür Kiliç ◽  
Dr. Betül Keskinkılıç Yağiz ◽  
Dr. Ahmet Serdar Karaca ◽  
...  

Blood ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 136 (Supplement 1) ◽  
pp. 9-10
Author(s):  
Danielle Vlazny ◽  
Damon E. Houghton ◽  
Ryan Meverden ◽  
Paul Daniels ◽  
Matthew Bartlett ◽  
...  

Background: Popliteal fossa cysts (PFCs aka Baker's cysts) are synovial cysts of the knee joint that can be symptomatic or asymptomatic and incidentally identified on ultrasound. Whether PFCs are associated with deep vein thrombosis (DVT) is unknown. Possible mechanisms for an association include direct compression of the popliteal vein, indirect compression on the popliteal vein with leg flexion, adjacent inflammation of the cyst, or relative immobility due to underlying joint disease itself. Methods: Lower extremity venous Duplex ultrasound radiology reports from the inception of electronic archiving through 11/14/2019 were evaluated across the Mayo Clinic Enterprise (Rochester MN, Jacksonville, FL, Scottsdale AZ, and Mayo Clinic Health System) in patients &gt;18 years of age. Natural language processing (NLP) algorithms were created and validated to identify acute DVT (proximal or distal) and PFCs. A random sample of 1,752 ultrasound reports underwent manual review to calculate the sensitivity and specificity of the NLP algorithm. Cases (ultrasounds with acute DVT) were compared to controls (ultrasound without acute DVT) to examine the frequency of PFCs. IRB approval was obtained and patients lacking Minnesota research authorization were excluded. Results: A total of 332,016 lower extremity venous ultrasounds were performed in 223,035 patients; 156,846 unilateral and 175,170 bilateral lower extremities exams. The mean age at ultrasound was 63.3 (SD 16.5) and 54.7% were female. Ultrasound reports were available for analysis starting in 1992 with a significant increase in the number of ultrasounds performed over the study period across the enterprise (Figure 1). Overall, acute DVT was identified in 24,179 (7.3%) of ultrasounds, and PFCs were identified in 32,427 (9.8%) of ultrasounds. The sensitivity and specificity of the NLP algorithm in the full dataset to identify acute DVT was 86.0% and 97.2%, respectfully. The sensitivity and specificity of the NLP algorithm to identify PFCs was 97.8% and 99.5%, respectively. PFCs were present in 9.3% of ultrasounds with acute DVT and 9.8% of ultrasounds without acute DVT (p=0.007), OR 0.94 (95% CI 0.90-0.98). In a multivariate logistic regression model, after adjusting for age and sex, results remained significant (aOR 0.95, 95% CI 0.91-0.995). Comparing ultrasounds before and after 2010, there was a higher percentage of PFCs and acute DVT reported after 2010 (p&lt;0.001 for both). Sensitivity analyses comparing results before or after 2010, by sex, and only in the first ultrasound performed per person, demonstrated similar results. Conclusions: PFCs are negatively associated with the presence of acute DVT on lower extremity venous Duplex ultrasound. This data does not support PFCs as a contributing or causative factor in the development of lower extremity DVT. Figure 1 Disclosures No relevant conflicts of interest to declare.


Author(s):  
Andre van Rij ◽  
Rebecca Millen ◽  
Kate Thomas ◽  
Geraldine Hill ◽  
Matthew Versteeg

2019 ◽  
Vol 34 (8) ◽  
pp. 543-551 ◽  
Author(s):  
Tjun Y Tang ◽  
Harsha P Rathnaweera ◽  
Jia W Kam ◽  
Tze T Chong ◽  
Edward C Choke ◽  
...  

Objectives The aim of this prospective single-centre study is to assess the effectiveness and patient experience of the VenaSeal™ Closure System, a novel non-thermal, non-tumescent catheter technique, which uses cyanoacrylate glue to occlude the refluxing truncal superficial veins to treat varicose veins and chronic venous insufficiency, in a multi-ethnic Asian population from Singapore. Methods Seventy-seven patients (93 legs; 103 procedures) underwent VenaSeal™ Closure System ablation. Forty-nine (63.6%) for great saphenous vein incompetence, 16 (20.8%) bilateral great saphenous vein, 2 (2.6%) small saphenous vein and 10 (13.0%) combined unilateral great saphenous vein and small saphenous vein/anterior thigh vein reflux. In addition, 65/93 legs (69.9%) had C4–C6 disease. Patients were reviewed at 2 weeks, 3, 6 and 12 months post-procedure. Results There was 100% technical success. 28/77 (36.4%) underwent concomitant phlebectomies. All procedures were well tolerated with a mean post-operative pain score of 3.0 (range: 0–5). After three months, median patient satisfaction was 9.0 (interquartile range: 7.0–10.0). At two-week follow-up, the great saphenous vein was completely occluded in 88/88 (100%) veins and small saphenous vein completely closed in 11/11 (100%) veins. At three-month follow-up, the great saphenous vein was occluded in 51/53 (96.2%) veins and small saphenous vein completely closed in 5/5 (100%) veins. At six-month follow-up, the great saphenous vein was completely occluded in 42/45 (93.3%) veins and small saphenous vein completely closed in 5/7 (71.4%) veins. At one year, great saphenous vein and small saphenous vein occlusion rates were 54/59 (91.5%) and 5/8 (62.5%), respectively. There was one deep vein thrombosis. Transient superficial phlebitis was reported in 10/93 (10.8%) legs, which were all self-limiting. There were 9/103 (8.7%) anatomical recurrences, but no patients required re-intervention as they were asymptomatic. Conclusions Cyanoacrylate glue is a safe and efficacious modality to ablate refluxing saphenous veins in Asian patients in the short term. There is a high satisfaction rate and peri-procedural pain is low. Early results are promising but further evaluation and longer term follow-up are required.


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