A new keyhole treatment for varicose veins has been introduced at the Cornwall Vein Clinic that avoids the need for multiple local anaesthetic injections during the treatment and reduces the need for bandaging afterwards. This treatment is not suitable for everyone with varicose veins, but your surgeon will let you know if your veins are suitable for treatment using this technique. However, there is not enough evidence available yet, to say if these treatments are as good as endothermal ablation (RFA and EVLT).

In the cyanoacrylate glue technique a catheter is placed in the vein through a small incision in the calf or lower thigh, made under local anaesthetic.

The aim of this technique, called cyanoacrylate glue occlusion, is to close a varicose vein by sticking its walls together. The cyanoacrylate glue is put into the affected vein via a special tube inserted into the vein at the knee and passed to the top of the great saphenous vein, using ultrasound to guide it. This treatment doesn’t require bandages or stockings to be worn afterwards and skin staining is very rare.

This technique does have the same potential complications as the established keyhole treatments (bruising, skin discolouration, nerve injury, deep vein thrombosis, allergic reaction, and failure to close the treated vein), but there is not yet enough information available about these techniques to say if these complications are any more likely, or if the success rate of these treatments is any lower.