Do I Need an Ultrasound Scan Before I Have My Spider Veins removed?

About 25% of people presenting for treatment of telangiectasia or spider veins on their legs will have incompetence of deeper veins.  Proceeding with treatment of surface veins before treating deeper incompetent veins increases the chance of a poor outcome and raises the risk of complications such as post sclerotic pigmentation and matting. Therefore a duplex ultrasound scan of the vascular system of the leg is best practice in the treatment of leg vein telangiectasia.

If you are considering treatment of spider veins please ensure your doctor undertakes a thorough ultrasound assessment before proceeding to treatment. 

Doctor Nicholas Kemp has a Graduate Certificate of Health Science in Medical Sonography from University of Sydney (2012) and a Certificate in Ultrasound in Phlebology from The Australasian College of Phlebology (2016).

Dr Kemp performs all ultrasound and vascular mapping at both the Brisbane vein clinic and Toowoomba vein centre.   

Thibault P, Bray A, Wlodarczyk J, Lewis J: Cosmetic leg veins: evaluation using duplex venous imaging, J Dermatol Surg Oncol 16:612, 1990