Safenectomía endoscópica en pacientes con insuficiencia de safena magna

a study was done between march 1999 and october 2001 at the endoscopic surgery unit of the surgery service ii, university hospital of caracas, with the objective to describe the surgical technique for endoscopic saphenectomy in patients with saphena magna insufficiency. the operative time, postoperative complications, and patient？s satisfaction with the technique was also evaluated, comparing nerve block versus epidural anesthesia. the average operative time was 62.5 minutes for group a and 87 minutes for group b. the 83 % of patients had low postoperative pain in the group a and 90 % in group b. one patient was converted to open surgery (5.88 %). two cases of lympha discharge (12.5 %) both in group a and obese patients; and three equimosis (one distal in group a and two proximal in group b) occurred; there were not infections and 90 % of patients were satisfied with the procedure. the endoscopic saphenectomy with nerve block anesthesia is an excellent procedure for the surgical treatment of selected patients with saphena magna insufficiency, well tolerated and with low complications rate.