Project Details
About the Project
Dr. Pierre C. Malo identified a potential benefit from connecting Family Practice physicians and General surgeons in a study to assess the rate of reccurrence of of venous reflux following Conservatrice et Hémodynamique de l’Insuffisance Veineuse en Ambulatoire (CHIVA) versus stripping the veins. CHIVA is a minimally invasive, vein sparing technique that is emerging as an alternative to ablative techniques for treating Varicose Vein Disease (VVD). During this project the physicians evaluated 150 primary procedures with clinical and duplex ultrasound examinations both pre and post operatively. Patients were then followed at <3 months and >1-year post-op. Dr. Malo defined recurrence as reflux in the diseased vessel at the saphenofemoral junction on duplex examination.
The findings from Family Practice physicians and General surgeons working together on this examination was that no documented recurrence occurred at the early follow up. Further, by the end of the project, 58 legs had completed and the late follow up and reflux was found in only 5 legs resulting in a recurrence rate of 8.6%; 95% CI (2.4%, 19%).
The project results indicate that CHIVA appears to offer a promising alternative for the treatment of VVD. Further to the results of this collaborative effort was that the “father” of CHIVA reached out to Dr. Malo and shared further advice on how to continue improving results of this procedure.