ABSTRACT
Treatment of superficial venous incompetence at the turn of the twenty-first century was marked by an increasing use of minimally invasive techniques, outpatient treatment, and an influx of physicians from non-surgical specialties into the treatment arena. Obliterating the greater saphenous vein, thus preventing venous reflux rather than physically removing the vein from the thigh, became possible through use of radiofrequency (RF) energy and laser light applied via catheters placed in the lumen of the saphenous vein. Mechanical phlebectomy became an option to replace stab avulsion. Catheterbased ablation of the saphenous vein could be practiced by non-surgeons, but mechanical phlebectomy kept that part of superficial venous surgery in the operating room.
