"Quality of life after varicose vein surgery in patients with high-ligation and stripping, external valvuloplasty and sapheno-femoral redo surgery".

Abstract Objectives : High-ligation and stripping (HL/S) and external valvuloplasty (eVP) with the implantation of an external device to restore the valve's function, are surgical methods to eliminate reflux at the saphenofemoral junction. Furthermore, redo-surgery (RedoS) can be performed in terms of same side groin recurrences. It is unclear, if there is a difference in quality of life (QoL) between these three surgical treatment options. Therefore, it was the aim of our study to elucidate QoL in patients before and after surgical treatment at the saphenofemoral junction by comparing HL/S, eVP and RedoS. Methods : A total of 303 participants (156 HL/S, 81eVP, 64 RedoS) were recruited during the daily clinical routine. QoL was measured at admission and six weeks after the surgical procedure by means of SF-12 (12 item short form health survey) and AVVQ (Aberdeen Varicose Vein Questionnaire). Results : The mean value of AVVQ was 14.5 (SD 2.1) preoperatively and 4.9 (SD 3.3) postoperatively in the HL/S group, 16.4 (SD 1.4) preoperatively and 6.8 (SD 2.5) postoperatively in the eVP group and 15.5 (2.2) preoperatively and 5.8 (SD 4.2) postoperatively in the RedoS group, which was statistically significant (p Conclusion : Varicose vein surgery leads to a significant improvement of QoL in all groups. The implantation of an external patch could have a negative influence in QoL.