[Value of color duplex ultrasound in diagnosis of insufficiency of perforant veins. A prospective study of 94 patients].

Using colour coded duplex sonography in pre-operative diagnosis of insufficient perforant veins we succeeded in accomplishing a close correspondence between diagnostic methods and intraoperative findings. We examined 94 patients suffering from primary varicosis by duplex sonography and found 334 perforant veins in total, i.e. 2.4 per leg, which we marked with special ink. Nearly 50% of the patients had also been examined by phlebography, which was evaluated by the vascular surgeons only. One third of the phlebographies were not satisfactory. The vascular surgeon evaluated the accuracy of perforant veins marked by duplex sonography with 95.8%, whereas the sufficient phlebographies only reached an accuracy of 65%. The insufficient phlebographies showed only 16% of the duplex-sonographically marked perforant veins. The confluence of the insufficient minor saphenous vein with the popliteal vein corresponded in all of the 22 cases with the sonographic findings. The colour coded duplex sonography enables the vascular surgeon to localize the insufficient perforant veins exactly and also provides for minimal tissue damage, which means a relevant decrease of postoperative pain.