Leg symptoms do not correlate with varicose veins

Surgery for varicose veins costs the NHS £400-600m a year yet there is little evidence that it reduces lower limb symptoms. In the Edinburgh vein study (p 353) men and women aged 18-64 completed a questionnaire on the presence of lower limb symptoms and were examined to determine the presence and extent of trunk varices. Women were significantly more likely than men to report heaviness or tension, swelling, aching, restless legs, cramps, and itching. The level of agreement between the presence of symptoms and trunk varices was low, especially in men. These results suggest that, even in the presence of trunk varices, most leg symptoms have a non-venous cause and that surgery is unlikely to ameliorate them.


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Relevant Article

What are the symptoms of varicose veins? Edinburgh vein study cross sectional population survey

Andrew Bradbury, Christine Evans, Paul Allan, Amanda Lee, C Vaughan Ruckley, and F G R Fowkes
BMJ 1999 318: 353-356. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]