Sclerotherapy
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Sclerotherapy is a technique of medical treatment, in which irritating chemical agents are injected or otherwise placed in body structures that need to be blocked or obliterated. Some of the first applications were to varicose veins and hemorrhoids. The method has been extended to bleeding blood vessels, as well as to effusions of body cavities.
Varicose veins
A Cochrane review comparing sclerotherapy to surgery had inadequate data, but suggested sclerotherapy gave better results after one year, but surgery was superior after five years. [1] Current techniques use a detergent combined with an inert foam. [2]
Intracavitary effusions
Tetracycline was among the first agents used for pleural effusion and peritoneal effusion, but has been replaced, in the U.S., by bleomycin.
References
- ↑ Rigby KA, Palfreyman SSJ, Beverley C, Michaels JA (2004), "Surgery versus sclerotherapy for the treatment of varicose veins", Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews, DOI:10.1002/14651858
- ↑ Lew WK, Weaver FA, Feie CF (2009), "Varicose Veins: Treatment", eMedicine