[The results of internal saphenous vein stripping under local anesthesia in outpatient care (700 cases)].

700 operations involving complete removal of varicose veins in a single stage by invaginated long stripping and phlebectomies under local anesthesia on an out-patient basis were reviewed. Anesthesia consisted of local injections and a femoral block using Mepivacaine or Lidocaine. The out-patient approach adopted did not cause any complications. 95% of patients were satisfied with the method of anesthesia. Three types of neurological sequelae were studied: local numbness due to tearing of a strip of nerve by Muller's hook (7%) was transitory: sub-malleolar numbness was avoided when the lower incision for the stripping was low and sub-malleolar; damage to the saphenous nerve occurs in 1.2 per cent of cases following general anesthesia because of recognition of the particular pain associated with stretching of the nerve during stripping and passage through this junctional area by the Müller technique.