Valvuloplasty in Primary Venous Insufficiency: Development, Performance, and Long-Term Results

Publisher Summary This chapter reviews the background upon which the first repair was based, and highlights what has evolved in the field of studying the clinical effects of deep vein thrombosis (DVT) in the 37 years since the first repair. Surgical repair of deep vein valves for primary disease has been widely evaluated and found to have reproducible favorable results without recurrence in 65 to 80% of cases successfully operated upon with internal repair. The repair can be performed in many different ways with the best long-term results achieved by open surgery, but with higher risk of complications after the open techniques than after the external techniques. Its use can be recommended in resistant chronic venous disease (CVD) cases in which a repairable valve is identified. In addition to pure primary disease, repairable valves can be found in the high thigh veins in a number of cases with distal deep vein thrombophlebitis when the more proximal valve(s) has been spared inflammatory involvement.