News & Updates
New Doctor joining O800 Vein Dr | 24th Jan 2023
0800 Vein Dr is pleased to announce that Dr. Tarun Ahuja has joined the 0800 Vein Dr Team. Tarun will be attending the Hastings and Palmerston North Clinic’s.
What is the simplest way to treat a varicose vein? | 6th July 2022
Well there are many ways to do this today that avoid the old surgical stripping operations but perhaps the most ingenious is to simply glue it shut!!
VENASEAL is a cyanoacrylate glue system that involves introducing a tiny catheter into the vein to deliver glue from a “Glue Gun!” As the glue meets blood in the vein it starts to cure and 3 minutes later the vein is sealed. Glue is injected as the catheter is withdrawn and the treatment provider presses on the leg to seal the vein. You may know cyanoacrylate glue better as “Super-Glue!” However this medical formulation took some time to research, develop and perfect.
The idea of Superglue for varicose veins was conceived by Dr. Rob Rabe, an interventional radiologist, who was using glue to stop bleeding blood vessels in the brain. Whilst working he thought “Wow wouldn’t it be great if I could treat my varicose veins this way?” VENASEAL was originally developed by Rod via a company called Sapheon which was on sold and the product is now distributed by Medtronic. Of course the first human trial took place on Rod himself and was a great success.
Dr. Paul Weaver at 0800 VEIN DR is one of the most experienced users of VENASEAL in New Zealand and has published the results of his 1st 100 cases in the Journal of Primary Healthcare in 2019. See https://www.publish.csiro.au/hc/pdf/HC19001 He first found out about glue and met Rod Rabe attending the 1st international symposium on VENASEAL in Germany (2013.) Subsequently VENASEAL became available in New Zealand in October 2015, with Dr. Weaver being the first to offer the treatment at 0800 VEIN DR.
VENASEAL has many advantages in that it requires a small local anaesthetic injection in the skin at the entry point for the catheter but is otherwise painless. It is relatively problem free as it will not damage other structures in the leg like many of the other ablation procedures that use heat. The main complication of VENASEAL is phlebitis. Phlebitis is inflammation of the treated vein thought to be due to a delayed hypersensitivity response. It occurs in 1-2 people out of every 10 treated. Phlebitis is usually mild and settles with a stocking for support and anti-inflammatory medication. In extremely rare instances the phlebitis has not settled and there are recorded cases of the vein needing to be removed surgically.
Why not book a free assessment and see if VENASEAL is right for you?