EVLA is performed under local anaesthetic. If you opt for this procedure, you will get admitted and discharged on the same day.
The surgeon first maps your varicose veins and highlights them using ultrasound. Local anaesthetic is injected around the veins and the surgeon ensures the fluid is in the right place using ultrasound. The anaesthetic not only numbs the area around the veins but also causes the vein to contract increasing the precision of the procedure. The anaesthetic liquid also spreads the laser energy ensuring that there is no harm to tissues around the area.
Under ultrasound guidance, a needle is put into the vein near the knee or ankle. A wire is passed into the vein and a long ‘sheath’ is passed up the vein to the top. This ‘sheath’ is a thin tube about the width of a pen refill. The ultrasound helps position the end of the sheath exactly.
The laser fibre is passed up inside the sheath until it comes out of the top. The laser is then switched on and both the laser and sheath are pulled back at the exact rate making sure that the vein is completely destroyed.
