Early versus deferred endovenous sclerotherapy of superficial venous reflux in patients with venous ulceration

Abstract

This study aimed to compare early endovenous sclerotherapy with superficial venous reflux combined with compression therapy and deferred intervention in patients with venous leg ulcers (VLUs). A total of 80 patients with 80 VLUs treated at the Department of General Surgery, Shangjin Nanfu Hospital, Chengdu, China, between February 2022 and January 2023 were included in the study. The primary outcome was the time to ulcer healing from the date of compression therapy or endovenous sclerotherapy. Secondary outcome measures were the rate of ulcer healing at 6 months, the rate of ulcer recurrence at 6 months, and patient-reported health-related quality of life. A total of 54 patients received early intervention and 26 received deferred intervention. The patient and clinical characteristics at baseline were similar between the two treatment groups. The median time to ulcer healing was 1.5 months (95% confidence interval [CI], 1.3–1.7 months) in the early-intervention group and 3.5 months (95% CI, 2.9–4.1 months) in the deferred-intervention group. The time to ulcer healing was shorter in the early-intervention group than in the deferred-intervention group (p < 0.001). The rate of ulcer healing at 6 months was 94% in the early-intervention group and 92% in the deferred-intervention group. The rate of ulcer recurrence before the end of the 6-month follow-up period was 2% in the early-intervention group and 4% in the deferred-intervention group. In conclusion, early endovenous sclerotherapy for superficial venous reflux resulted in faster healing of VLUs than deferred endovenous sclerotherapy.