Vascular vein disease can affect the largest and smallest veins of the body. These circulatory disorders can have a direct or indirect impact on blood flow into the heart tissue, which makes the symptoms very sensitive and prompts long-term attention from patients.
Pain, swelling, sensitive throbbing, or unsightly veins can result from the compression of associated tissue. While some vascular vein diseases have a direct relationship to heart health, all can be related to lifestyle factors.
Critically, from a patient’s perspective, lifestyle and hereditary causes work reciprocally to exacerbate vein disorders.
Those who experience symptoms are encouraged to take notice that early warning signs can be treated. Multiple lifestyle decisions or physical ailments can contribute to the long-term development of vein disease.
The dangers attached to diabetes and other circulatory disorders are also brought forward through the prolonged effects of vein disease.
You are invited to take this home and consult with loved ones as their prevalence increases in Singapore’s aging population.
The next nine pages will shed light on the common types of vein diseases and will explore treatment paths. In subsequent pages, the on-the-ground patient service model at the Vascular and Interventional Centre will be discussed.
Vein disease is widespread, and patients should know their options in a sea of potential treatments. Following this note, we provide materials for the creation of patient-facing services used at the end of the volume.
The Vascular and Interventional Centre provides expert vascular vein disease treatment, delivering personalized care to improve your vein health and overall well-being.
The Role of the Vascular and Interventional Centre
The Vascular and Interventional Centre offers state-of-the-art, minimally invasive, and interventional radiology treatment to our patients.
For complex cases or when a higher level of care or services is required, our centre serves as an acute Vascular Medicine Centre, with 24/7 inpatient care.
The centre provides an environment where vascular physicians and surgeons work side by side in a multidisciplinary setup to ensure you receive the right treatment, whether it is medical treatment, minimally invasive intervention, or surgical care.
As Singapore’s largest academic medical centre, our centre for vascular vein disease, venous vascular medicine, and intervention focuses on diagnostics, treatment, and research of all venous diseases.
Our centre offers a wide range of interventions individually tailored for each patient’s needs and medical condition.
We believe that by ensuring integration between varicose treatment and other medical specialties, we can offer patients the most comprehensive treatment options available and tailor treatments to your specific problems, while ensuring the best possible clinical outcome.
Our team is dedicated to continually developing in our respective areas to deliver the best medical care today and to continue to offer evolving cutting-edge interventions to improve the quality of life of our patients.
Minimally Invasive Procedures in Vein Disease Treatment
In the last two decades, the emergence of minimally invasive procedures has significantly revolutionized vein disease treatments.
In the past, common treatments such as surgical stripping had high procedural risks, high complication rates, and a long recovery period.
Minimally invasive treatments such as EVLT, VenaSeal, sclerotherapy, and phlebectomy are designed to achieve the same outcomes, such as immediate improvement of symptoms, high patient satisfaction, and shorter recovery periods, but with lower complication rates and higher efficiency in managing the underlying venous disease causing the symptoms.
We fully understand that the treatment of each type of vein disease has to be matched with the appropriate minimally invasive treatments. This is where we feel any center managed by our physicians can provide you with the best advice and treatment options.
Endovenous Laser Therapy is a minimally invasive, in-office procedure performed under local anesthesia.
This technique employs a catheter and laser thermal energy that can be used for treating varicose veins and their underlying cause, the greater saphenous vein, helping with symptoms such as burning, leg heaviness, and fatigue.
When coupled with advanced ultrasound vein mapping, laser can be the most efficient treatment for patients with symptomatic varicose veins.
The use of foam also allows larger vein disease to be treated and can be used safely in ambulatory clinics in the treatment of long-standing venous ulcers and deep vein disease.
As a leading vein clinic Singapore, the Vascular and Interventional Centre offers state-of-the-art solutions for all your vein-related concerns
Advantages of Minimally Invasive Techniques
The primary advantages of these minimally invasive techniques are the reduction in recovery times compared with conventional surgical methods.
Patients generally require no more than a day of rest, a far cry from the usual four weeks of hospitalization in the past. This minimal post-operation recovery leads to cost savings for hospitalization and loss of income.
Since there is no need for hospitalization, these procedures can be performed on an outpatient basis in the comfort of the clinic.
As the incisions are also very small, they do not require stitches and heal very quickly. In most cases, the wounds have healed within three days and leave minimal scarring.
In fact, since the body sometimes starts healing almost immediately after the procedure, this can lead to bruising on the skin, which is usually completely reabsorbed within one to two weeks.
As the procedure is significantly less invasive than traditional vein stripping, most patients require only pain relief and can return home or work almost immediately.
Most patients only require mild sedation, and if they drive themselves home after the procedure, they can resume driving the next day.
Patients generally do not need to take prolonged leave from work and can generally resume light work activity within a week.
The advantage of this reduced recovery time is more than just cost savings. It also has a positive impact on the quality of life of the patient.
A quick return to their regular professional and social life – that is to say, the ability to lead a normal life – is the most important thing for these patients.
Finally, the risks of this type of procedure are generally very low; indeed, the risk of infection is similar following any procedure. Complications rarely arise and are generally very low.
The risk of deep vein thrombosis and pulmonary embolism is extremely low and generally limited to certain high-risk patients.
Due to the lower rate of infection and almost no swelling compared to the past, fewer dressings and bandages are required after treatment.
Trust the Vascular and Interventional Centre for advanced vein disease treatment, where our experienced team focuses on effective, minimally invasive therapies tailored to your needs.
Specialized Services Offered at the Centre
At the Vascular and Interventional Centre, we specialize in treating vascular vein diseases. In line with our specialization, we offer a range of services, including both diagnostic procedures and treatments.
The Diagnostic Vessel Endolymph Analyser and Dynamic Contrast Enhanced MR Angiography are our clinic’s two advanced imaging systems that accurately diagnose varicose veins and venous insufficiency.
The vision and objectives of our clinic are to be a “one-stop shop” for all vascular vein diseases for patients, as it is staffed by a team of professionals who are responsible for consulting and preparing a diversified treatment plan involving some medical or a combination of the following options: diet, lifestyle, medication, vein dressings, vein support, thrombolysis, vein removal, FEC glue, or vascular exposure.
The doctor makes a monthly diagnosis and directs the treatment plan for the patient. Our team’s focus is to make an accurate diagnosis and plan treatment, including surgery and varicose veins, venous stenting, sclerotherapy, or compression bandage for non-varicose edema in combination with internal medicine and diet, and counseling.
At the Vascular and Interventional Centre, we believe in an interdisciplinary approach. Other than the members from the specialties mentioned in the previous section, our nurses and polyclinics play a valuable role in the patient’s management.
The nurses will further evaluate and contact the patient to ask about their medical history and to book an appointment for the patient’s case to be reviewed by our consultant radiologists within a week to 10 days.
Our polyclinic nurses will also provide educational services. Navigating the treatment options can be bewildering for patients, as they may not be familiar with the process of diagnosing and treating varicose vein disease.
We feel that by collaborating, patients will receive more care, experience, and expert advice optimized for their health. We will also offer other support services such as follow-ups, counseling, and more.
Diagnostic Procedures
The importance of an accurate diagnosis for the correct treatment is not to be underestimated. At the Vascular and Interventional Centre, a variety of state-of-the-art tools are available to diagnose and plan patient treatment effectively.
For accurate imaging of various anatomical details and the function of your veins, we use Doppler ultrasound and venography, which are non-invasive and do not cause pain or discomfort.
Venography is particularly useful as it highlights subtle issues like a pelvic source of venous reflux, which may not be picked up by other imaging techniques.
Venography also casts the image of the venous system at different times from the injection of contrast, thus showing abnormalities in the blood flow inside the vessels.
Before these tests are prescribed, patients also sit down with their vascular surgeon for a consultation.
This is a crucial part of a diagnostic procedure as the patient’s medical history, family history, risk factors, and signs and symptoms of the medical condition are all discussed in this session.
The clinical evaluation of a patient is one of the most important diagnostic tools for a vascular specialist.
This allows the diagnostic team to review all aspects of a patient’s symptoms and objectively plan which investigations will be required for a comprehensive overview of your venous system.
When all symptoms are present, we do not just look at veins in your lower limbs, but also in the pelvis, abdomen, and upper limbs, as these systems are connected and can also contribute to the cause of venous disease in the lower limbs.
