SEPS

Navigation

	Home
	Introduction
	Myths about Veins
	How Veins work
	Tests for Veins
	SEPS
	VNUS Closure
	Press Reports
	Charges
	IMPORTANT - AXA-PPP insured patients
	Private Medicine Insurance

SEPS (Sub-fascial Endoscopic Perforating Vein Surgery)

	SEPS
	SEPs Technique
	Insurance and SEPS

Perforating veins are veins that connect the deep and superficial veins. Normally they only let blood travel inwards (from superficial veins to deep veins) where it would then be pumped by the muscle pump back to the heart. However, when the vein becomes "incompetent" it allows blood to squirt in the reverse direction.

Many authorities believe incompetent perforating veins to be a major cause of leg ulcers.

Recent work from my group in Guildford suggests a link between incompetent perforating veins and getting recurrent varicose veins (work presented at the First European Venous Forum, Lyon, June 2000 and the Vascular Surgical Society, Belfast Nov 2002). Therefore it is my practice to locate the veins using Duplex ultrasound and then to clip the veins at operation using a key-hole procedure called SEPS.

Duplex ultrasound is used to identify the perforators - picture shows a duplex ultrasound of one perforating vein allowing flow [colour blue on picture] to jet out of deep veins into the superficial veins.