A Novel Venous Puncture Method for Endovenous Laser Ablation of Varicose Veins in the Lower Limbs Using Smaller Diameter Optical Fiber

Abstract

By developing smaller diameter optical fibers, endovenous laser ablation can be performed for the tributary veins as well as for the saphenous veins. Both the tributary veins and saphenous veins will need to be punctured with 16-gauge intravenous needles for endovenous laser ablation using smaller diameter optical fiber. However, the placement of 16-gauge intravenous needle into a tortuous tributary vein is technically difficult. Here, we report a novel vein puncture method using a 4 Fr sheath introducer set and a 16-gauge intravenous needles to facilitate easy insertion.