Testing for Varicose Veins

If you’ve been showing a few of the symptoms of varicose veins and you want your physician to investigate the matter, there are several tests you can both turn to in hopes of determining whether or not you have varicose veins. Before anything else, your doctor will conduct a physical exam and ask you plenty of background questions about your health, your medical history, and your symptomology. Your physician is also going to pay special attention to the color and texture of your prominent veins. After going over your patient history and your exam, the doctor may feel as though he should order a test to look for further evidence concerning the patient’s possible varicose veins. He has several tests to choose from.

There is the hand-held Doppler exam. With this procedure a small instrument is used by the physician to listen to the direction of the blood flow. This technique allows him to listen for reflux, or backflow within the veins of the leg.

There is a duplex ultrasonography, a lab test that allows blood flow to be visualized, not just listened to as with the Doppler Exam. Using this method the doctor can map out the reflux in the superficial veins. He can also visualize whether or not there is reflux or obstruction in the deep veins. During the test an ultrasound probe is placed in the skin over the affected vein. The process is harmless and there are no injections involved. The doctor uses ultrasound to measure blood flow, taking around twenty minutes per leg for the tests. Not only does the test reveal varicose veins, the ultrasound may give your physician important data about whether other conditions may also be involved.

There is venography, where a needle is placed in a vein in the foot and contrasting media is injected into the vein. This x-ray test provides an image of the leg veins based on the contrasting dye. In this manner evidence of prior clots will come to light. Venography is the standard test used to detect deep vein thrombosis (which can lead to a pulmonary embolism). It is also useful in distinguishing blood clots from obstructions and monitoring the deep leg vein valves. Generally, venography isn’t performed on kidney patients.

There is also varicography, a procedure where contrast is injected directly into an affected vein. This maps the varicose vein and shows where they connect with deep veins.

There is the Trendelenburg test which has the patient lie down with one leg in the air. The doctor will temporarily block the blood flow to the patient’s veins and then have the patient stand up. In this way the physician may observe your varicose veins as they refill, giving him further evidence of faulty valves in those veins.

As you can see there are at least five important tests that can be used by your physician to help narrow down the cause of your varicose vein-like symptoms. If you work with you doctor, the two of you will soon isolate the cause of your symptoms and arrive at a diagnosis together.