Pulmonary Embolism After Stripping of Varicose Veins

During a 5-year period in our institution, two cases of acute pulmonary embolism (PE) developed postoperatively in a series of 330 patients who underwent varicose vein stripping of the long saphenous vein (an incidence rate of 0.6%). In both patients, a standard surgical procedure was used. A few days after the procedure, chest pain and hypoxia developed. Pulmonary perfusion scintigraphy showed multiple embolisms in both lungs. Anticoagulant and thrombolytic therapy was administered, and the patients recovered completely. Although PE is a rare complication of stripping operations for varicose veins, it is a serious complication that can be fatal.