In an interview with Venous News at this year’s Leipzig Interventional Course (LINC 2023; 6–9 June, Leipzig, Germany), Raghu Kolluri (Columbus, USA) outlines the “vast list” of options that are now available for the treatment of patients who require saphenous vein ablation.
Kolluri stresses that there are, as yet, no head-to-head comparisons of the available treatments. However, he notes that this might be set to change, with results of the SPECTRUM study expected soon. “I cannot think of [a] larger trial or more important trial in this space,” he opines.
The system medical director of Vascular Medicine at OhioHealth, Kolluri also touches on the importance of multispecialty treatment, stressing that “holistic care” is crucial in the venous space. “If [you are] unable to offer the full spectrum of venous treatments, [you have] got to collaborate,” he says, here highlighting the importance of his vascular surgery, interventional cardiology and interventional radiology colleagues.
Finally, Kolluri lists some unmet needs in the saphenous vein ablation space, including which procedure to tackle first in post-thrombotic patients, and whether to treat reflux or obstruction first in venous ulcer patients.
