{"id":4503,"date":"2022-05-03T11:47:20","date_gmt":"2022-05-03T10:47:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/apps.nhslothian.scot\/refhelp\/guidelines\/varicosevein\/"},"modified":"2025-04-03T09:51:06","modified_gmt":"2025-04-03T08:51:06","slug":"varicosevein","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/apps.nhslothian.scot\/refhelp\/guidelines\/vascularsurgery\/varicosevein\/","title":{"rendered":"Varicose Vein"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p><strong>Information<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Surgery for varicose veins is a very limited procedure which is only carried out in NHS Scotland in specific situations.&nbsp; Across all of NHS Scotland, GPs can only refer for varicose vein surgery if patients meet the following criteria:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Patients with venous pigmentation, varicose eczema or ulceration (see right)<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Patients with an episode \/ episodes of superficial thrombophlebitis that either required treatment with low molecular weight heparin or were ultrasound scan proven<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Patients who have experienced haemorrhage from a varicose vein<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>Unfortunately, any referrals that don\u2019t meet one of these criteria will be returned and will not receive a hospital appointment.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>NHS Lothian has been receiving a high number of referrals that don\u2019t meet these criteria and we appreciate your understanding as we manage access to this service. Patients should be given the following patient information leaflet which provides details on self-management <a href=\"https:\/\/policyonline.nhslothian.scot\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/10\/Varicose-Veins-Information-for-Patients.pdf.\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Varicose-Veins-Information-for-Patients.pdf. <\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>D.R.M &amp; A.T 27-10-24<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-getwid-tabs\" data-active-tab=\"0\"><ul class=\"wp-block-getwid-tabs__nav-links\"><\/ul>\n<div class=\"wp-block-getwid-tabs__nav-link\"><span class=\"wp-block-getwid-tabs__title-wrapper\"><a href=\"#\"><span class=\"wp-block-getwid-tabs__title\">Referral Guidelines<\/span><\/a><\/span><\/div><div class=\"wp-block-getwid-tabs__tab-content-wrapper\"><div class=\"wp-block-getwid-tabs__tab-content\"><div class=\"wp-block-image\">\n<figure class=\"alignright is-resized\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"\/files\/sites\/2\/Varicose-Veins-Lipodermatosclerosis-Dec-2019.png\" alt=\"Varicose Veins Lipodermatosclerosis\" style=\"width:185px;height:118px\" \/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\"><a href=\"https:\/\/dermnetnz.org\/#gsc.tab=1&amp;gsc.q=varicose%20veins%20dermnet&amp;gsc.page=2\">Search DermNet | DermNet (dermnetnz.org)<\/a><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\">\n<figure class=\"alignright is-resized\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"\/files\/sites\/2\/Varicose-Vein-Varicose-eczema-Dec-2019.png\" alt=\"Varicose Vein Varicose eczema\" style=\"width:199px;height:151px\" \/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\"><a href=\"https:\/\/dermnetnz.org\/#gsc.tab=1&amp;gsc.q=varicose%20veins%20dermnet&amp;gsc.page=2\">Search DermNet | DermNet (dermnetnz.org)<\/a><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\">\n<figure class=\"alignright is-resized\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"\/files\/sites\/2\/Varicose-Veins-Venous-ulceration-Dec-2019.png\" alt=\"Varicose Veins Venous ulceration\" style=\"width:185px;height:114px\" \/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Venous Ulceration<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n<h4 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Who to refer for Varicose Veins:<\/h4>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Those with venous pigmentation, varicose eczema or ulceration (see right)<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Those with an episode \/ episodes of superficial thrombophlebitis that either required treatment with low molecular weight heparin or were ultrasound scan proven<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Those who have experienced haemorrhage from a varicose vein<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h4 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Who not to refer:<\/h4>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Patients with asymptomatic varicose veins or thread veins whose concern is principally cosmetic<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Patients with undiagnosed bilateral limb swelling<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Patients with painful varicose veins in the absence of superficial thrombophlebitis.&nbsp;<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h4 class=\"wp-block-heading\">How to refer:<\/h4>\n\n\n\n<p>Use SCI Gateway (Royal Infirmary of Edinburgh at Little France &gt;&gt; Vascular Surgery &gt;&gt; LI&nbsp;Varicose Vein).<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-getwid-tabs__nav-link\"><span class=\"wp-block-getwid-tabs__title-wrapper\"><a href=\"#\"><span class=\"wp-block-getwid-tabs__title\">Resources and Links<\/span><\/a><\/span><\/div><div class=\"wp-block-getwid-tabs__tab-content-wrapper\"><div class=\"wp-block-getwid-tabs__tab-content\">\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/policyonline.nhslothian.scot\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/10\/Varicose-Veins-Information-for-Patients.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Varicose-Veins-Self Management Information-for-Patients.pdf<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.sehd.scot.nhs.uk\/cmo\/DC20190522Varicose.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">https:\/\/www.sehd.scot.nhs.uk\/cmo\/DC20190522Varicose.pdf&nbsp;<\/a>(CMO Letter May 2019 PROTOCOL FOR ACCESS TO VARICOSE VEIN SURGERY)<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" href=\"https:\/\/cks.nice.org.uk\/venous-eczema-and-lipodermatosclerosis\" target=\"_blank\">https:\/\/cks.nice.org.uk\/venous-eczema-and-lipodermatosclerosis<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/cks.nice.org.uk\/thrombophlebitis-superficial\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">https:\/\/cks.nice.org.uk\/thrombophlebitis-superficial<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/cks.nice.org.uk\/leg-ulcer-venous\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">https:\/\/cks.nice.org.uk\/leg-ulcer-venous<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Information Surgery for varicose veins is a very limited procedure which is only carried out in NHS Scotland in specific situations.&nbsp; Across all of NHS Scotland, GPs can only refer for varicose vein surgery if patients meet the following criteria: Unfortunately, any referrals that don&rsquo;t meet one of these criteria will be returned and will<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"parent":4504,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[682],"class_list":["post-4503","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry","category-varicoseveins"],"publishpress_future_workflow_manual_trigger":{"enabledWorkflows":[]},"rttpg_featured_image_url":null,"rttpg_author":{"display_name":"NHS Lothian","author_link":"https:\/\/apps.nhslothian.scot\/refhelp\/author\/nhs-lothian\/"},"rttpg_comment":0,"rttpg_category":" <a href=\"https:\/\/apps.nhslothian.scot\/refhelp\/category\/vascularsurgery\/varicoseveins\/\" rel=\"tag\">Varicose Veins<\/a>","rttpg_excerpt":"Information Surgery for varicose veins is a very limited procedure which is only carried out in NHS Scotland in specific situations.&nbsp; Across all of NHS Scotland, GPs can only refer for varicose vein surgery if patients meet the following criteria: Unfortunately, any referrals that don&rsquo;t meet one of these criteria will be returned and will","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/apps.nhslothian.scot\/refhelp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/4503","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/apps.nhslothian.scot\/refhelp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/apps.nhslothian.scot\/refhelp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/apps.nhslothian.scot\/refhelp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/apps.nhslothian.scot\/refhelp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4503"}],"version-history":[{"count":12,"href":"https:\/\/apps.nhslothian.scot\/refhelp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/4503\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":23617,"href":"https:\/\/apps.nhslothian.scot\/refhelp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/4503\/revisions\/23617"}],"up":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/apps.nhslothian.scot\/refhelp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/4504"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/apps.nhslothian.scot\/refhelp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4503"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/apps.nhslothian.scot\/refhelp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4503"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}