Ann Phlebology.
2022 Dec;20(2):68-77. 10.37923/phle.2022.20.2.68.
New Treatment of Varicose Veins through Muscle Regeneration of Lower Leg Muscles (Especially Calf Muscle) Without Removal of Varicose Veins
- Affiliations
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- 1Department of Pediatrics, Woorisoa Hospital, Seoul, Korea
- KMID: 2549976
- DOI: http://doi.org/10.37923/phle.2022.20.2.68
Abstract
- The calf muscle pump is the motive force enhancing venous blood return from the lower extremity to the heart. It causes displacement of venous blood in both vertical and horizontal directions, generates ambulatory pressure gradient between the thigh and lower leg veins, and bidirectional streaming within calf perforators. Ambulatory pressure gradient triggers venous reflux in incompetent veins, inducing ambulatory venous hypertension in the lower leg and foot. Bidirectional flow in calf perforators enables quick pressure equalization between deep and superficial veins of the lower leg; the outward (into the superficial veins) oriented component of the bidirectional flow taking place during calf muscle contraction is not a pathological reflux but a physiological centripetal flow streaming via the great saphenous vein into the femoral vein. Calf perforators are communicating channels between both systems, making them conjoined vessels; they are not involved in generating pathological hemodynamic situations and do not cause ambulatory venous hypertension. Pressure gradient arising during calf pump activity between the femoral vein and the saphenous remnant after abolishing saphenous reflux triggers biophysical and biochemical events, which might induce recurrence. Thus, abolishing saphenous reflux removes the hemodynamic disturbance but simultaneously generates a precondition for reflux recurrence and the return of the previous pathological situation; this chain of events has been termed the hemodynamic paradox. But this review showed that varicose veins could be improved quickly through lower leg muscles (especially calf muscle) regeneration by increasing mitochondrial cellular energy (adenosine triphosphate) of leg muscles without removing varicose veins.
