The Auckland Hospital varicose veins and venous ulcer clinic: a report on six years work.

A report is given on the numbers of patients seen and treated by Auckland Hospital varicose veins clinic from May 1974 to May 1980. During this time 2145 patients have been seen in the clinic, 351 of these patients have had leg ulcers and 1191 have been treated by minimum operation with or without injection sclerotherapy. Of these 1191 patients, 84 percent have had their operations as outpatients. The problems of an increasing demand for a good service are mentioned and the necessity for increasing the facilities of the clinic is stressed. It is believed that most patients with varicose veins and venous ulcers can be treated as outpatients and that efforts should be made to increase the numbers so treated in the interests of economy both for the patient and for the hospitals concerned, but that provision should still be made for some patients to be treated as inpatients.