A 63-Year-Old Heart Patient With Varicose Veins Successfully Undergoes Endovenous Laser Treatment At Apollo Spectra Hospital, Mumbai

by Suman Gupta

Mumbai: A team headed by Dr Ashank Bansal, Vascular Surgeon helped a 63-Year-Old Heart Patient With Varicose Veins to move freely by successfully treating her with Endovenous laser treatment. The Woman was bed-ridden and is now able to walk after many years. The patient has been discharged from the hospital and has resumed her daily routine with ease.

Sudha Garg, a 63-year-old woman from  Gwalior, Madhya Pradesh was jolted out of her normal routine due to the appearance of large veins in both her legs. She visited various medicos who diagnosed it as varicose veins. Her condition deteriorated further, and her leg turned back and a large wound formed that didn’t heal for 2 years. The patient needed urgent treatment for the same as she ran the risk of amputation.

However, Mrs Garg had been operated twice on her heart, leading to severe breathlessness. As a result, walking even 100 meters was a challenge for her. She was therefore declared unfit for striping surgery for varicose veins by doctors in Gwalior. However, the patient’s family decided to look for treatment options in Mumbai and approached Apollo Spectra Hospital wherein she got a new lease of life.

Dr Ashank Bansal, Vascular Surgeon Apollo Spectra Mumbai Said,  “With great belief in us, Mrs Garg arrived in Mumbai by flight and was admitted in the hospital. She was severely breathlessness, making walking 10 steps also difficult for her. There were large varicose veins and a non healing wound which required urgent treatment. We conducted a bilateral lower limb venous Doppler, ECG, chest X-ray and 2d echo and full cardiac fitness prior to procedure. Varicose veins tend to occur when the veins become enlarged, dilated, and overfilled with blood due to damaged or faulty valves that allow blood to travel in the wrong direction.Around 20 percent people now suffer from varicose veins. We have treated around 500 patients of varicose in this year alone with Endovenoues Laser Therapy. Around 60 percent of our patients are females and rest males. Advantage of EVLT is that we minimal anaesthesia which was ideal for Mrs Sudha Garg considering her heart condition.”

Dr Bansal added, An ultrasound is done prior to the EVLA procedure in order to identify the problematic, poorly functioning veins that are the underlying causes of the patient’s varicose veins. Endovenous Laser Treatment of varicose veins (EVLT) is painless, scarless and there are no/minimal complications. The patient can resume his/her daily activities at the earliest. With laser we close the over flowing veins without damage to surrounding structures.

This meant that she didn’t require any anaesthesia and had no cuts and went walking from the operation theatre. Thus,  the healthy blood flow to the leg was restored. We operated multiple veins and took us around 1 hour to treat both herhttp://legs.Bythe next day, she had taken a flight back to Gwalior and reached home safely.  Our advanced endovenous laser technology (EVLT) has revolutionized varicose veins treatment. All surgeries are done on a daycare basis, and the patient goes walking from the operation theatre. Mrs Garg had been suffering for a long time and we are glad we could treat her.”

Varicose veins is a minimally invasive treatment and requires no or minimal Anaeshtsia. A delay in treatment can lead to devastating complications like ulcer. She has been advised compression stockings to wear for 3 years.

 “I am really glad that team of Vascular Centre and  Apollo Spectra Hospital was successfully able to carry out the surgery. For years, my wife was suffering from varicose veins and it had become difficult to see her in pain. She required assistance in her daily chores and was dependent on us. The entire process from admission to discharge was very smoothly coordinated by their team and we didn’t feel we are new in the city. I thank the doctors for helping my wife lead a normal life now,” concluded Mr Garg.