Foam Sclerotherapy
Foam Sclerotherapy is the newest innovation to treat spider veins and varicose veins. In this treatment the medication is suspended in micro-bubbles (foam) before it is injected.
Foam sclerotherapy is a technique that involves injecting foamed sclerosant chemical within a blood vessel using a syringe. The sclerosant chemicals of Sodium Tetradecyl Sulfate or polidocanol are mixed with air or a gas (carbon dioxide).
This type of mixing increases the surface area of the foam. B
ecause foam has a greater surface area than liquid, it can cover more
of the damaged veins
. The foam is more efficacious than the liquid one in causing sclerosis, thickening of the vessel wall and sealing off the blood flow. This foam does not mix with the blood in the vessel and displaces it, thus avoiding dilution. Foam sclerotherapy is very useful for longer and larger veins,
able to adhere to the vein walls more effectively and cause faster shrinkage.