A prospective study on etiology and clinical features of varicose veins: A hospital based study

Background: Varicose vein are abnormally dilated, tortuous, elongated veins of lower limbs which have permanently lost their valvular efficiency. The main objectives of our study was to study etiological profile (Age, sex, occupation and site pathology) and different modalities utilized in our institute and to assess and study final outcome in patients included in our study. Methodology: It was a prospective study; fifty cases of varicose veins were attending outpatient Department and admitted in the Surgical Department of Deccan Medical College & Hospital from October 2018 to September 2019. Results: In the present study, fifty cases of varicose veins treated in our institute form the basis of this study. The average age of the patients was 41.86 years. The youngest patient was of 19 years and the oldest was 65 years of age. Varicose veins were common in males; the male to female ratio was 3.1:1. The number of patients who were involved in occupations requiring prolonged hours of standing was 35 (70%). A positive family history of varicose veins was present in only 4 cases (8%). Deep vein thrombosis was present in 7 patients (12.72%). The commonest presentation was dilated veins. The common associated symptoms were itching and pigmentation in 27 patients (54%) and ulceration in 13 patients (26%). 5 patients had bilateral varicose veins and the remaining 45 had only one limb affected. The limb commonly affected was right lower extremity in 29 cases (52.7%). Long saphenous vein was involved in 42 limbs (76.36%) and both long and short saphenous vein were affected only in 3 limbs (5.4%). Conclusion: The database of our retrospective study regarding age & sex incidence, clinicopathological features and therapeutic outcome was comparable to other studies in various literatures.