Prospective Study
Copyright ©The Author(s) 2024. Published by Baishideng Publishing Group Inc. All rights reserved.
World J Clin Cases. Jan 26, 2024; 12(3): 517-524
Published online Jan 26, 2024. doi: 10.12998/wjcc.v12.i3.517
Benefit in physical function and quality of life to nonsurgical treatment of varicose veins: Pilot study
Gwon-Min Kim, BoKun Kim, Minwoo Jang, Jong-Hwan Park, Miju Bae, Chung Won Lee, Jong Won Kim, Up Huh
Gwon-Min Kim, Medical Research Institute, Pusan National University School of Medicine, Yangsan 50612, South Korea
BoKun Kim, Future Convergence Research Institute, Changwon National University, Changwon 51140, South Korea
Minwoo Jang, Department of Convergence Medical Science, School of Medicine, Pusan National University, Yangsan 50612, South Korea
Minwoo Jang, Jong-Hwan Park, Health Convergence Medicine Laboratory, Biomedical Research Institute, Pusan National University Hospital, Busan 49241, South Korea
Miju Bae, Chung Won Lee, Jong Won Kim, Up Huh, Department of Thoracic and Cardiovascular Surgery, Pusan National University School of Medicine, Biomedical Research Institute, Pusan National University Hospital, Busan 49241, South Korea
Author contributions: Kim GM performed the majority of experiments and wrote the manuscript; Huh U designed the study and corrected the manuscript; Kim B is involved in analytical tools; Jang M participated to the collection of the human material; Park JH, Bae M, Lee CW, Kim JW served as scientific advisor and participate to the collection of human material.
Supported by Biomedical Research Institute, Pusan National University Hospital, 202200420001.
Institutional review board statement: This study was reviewed and approved by the Ethics Committee of the Pusan National University Hospital, approval No. 2203-034-112.
Clinical trial registration statement: This study is registered at [https://www.umin.ac.jp/]. The registration identification number is [UMIN000053178].
Informed consent statement: All patients gave informed consent.
Conflict-of-interest statement: No benefits in any form have been received or will be received from a commercial party related directly or indirectly to the subject of this article.
Data sharing statement: Technical appendix, statistical code, and dataset available from the corresponding author at tymfoo82@gmail.com.
CONSORT 2010 statement: The authors have read the CONSORT 2010 statement, and the manuscript was prepared and revised according to the CONSORT 2010 statement.
Open-Access: This article is an open-access article that was selected by an in-house editor and fully peer-reviewed by external reviewers. It is distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution NonCommercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) license, which permits others to distribute, remix, adapt, build upon this work non-commercially, and license their derivative works on different terms, provided the original work is properly cited and the use is non-commercial. See: https://creativecommons.org/Licenses/by-nc/4.0/
Corresponding author: Up Huh, MD, PhD, Assistant Professor, Surgeon, Department of Thoracic and Cardiovascular Surgery, Pusan National University School of Medicine, Biomedical Research Institute, Pusan National University Hospital, 179 Gudeok-Ro, Seo-Gu, Busan 49241, South Korea. tymfoo82@gmail.com
Received: September 17, 2023
Peer-review started: September 17, 2023
First decision: December 18, 2023
Revised: December 21, 2023
Accepted: January 3, 2024
Article in press: January 3, 2024
Published online: January 26, 2024
Abstract
BACKGROUND

Studies on varicose veins have focused its effects on physical function; however, whether nonsurgical treatments alter muscle oxygenation or physical function remains unclear. Moreover, the differences in such functions between individuals with varicose veins and healthy individuals remain unclear.

AIM

To investigate changes in physical function and the quality of life (QOL) following nonsurgical treatment of patients with varicose veins and determine the changes in their muscle oxygenation during activity.

METHODS

We enrolled 37 participants (those with varicose veins, n = 17; healthy individuals, n = 20). We performed the following measurements pre- and post-nonsurgical treatment in the varicose vein patients and healthy individuals: Calf muscle oxygenation during the two-minute step test, open eyes one-leg stance, 30 s sit-to-stand test, visual analog scale (VAS) for pain, Pittsburgh sleep quality index, physical activity assessment, and QOL assessment.

RESULTS

Varicose veins patients and healthy individuals differ in most variables (physical function, sleep quality, and QOL). Varicose veins patients showed significant differences between pre- and post-nonsurgical treatment— results in the 30 sit-to-stand test [14.41 (2.45) to 16.35 (4.11), P = 0.018), two-minute step test [162.29 (25.98) to 170.65 (23.80), P = 0.037], VAS for pain [5.35 (1.90) to 3.88 (1.73), P = 0.004], and QOL [39.34 (19.98) to 26.69 (17.02), P = 0.005]; however, no significant difference was observed for muscle oxygenation.

CONCLUSION

Nonsurgical treatment improved lower extremity function and QOL in varicose veins patients, bringing their condition close to that of healthy individuals. Future studies should include patients with severe varicose veins requiring surgery to confirm our findings.

Keywords: Varicose vein, Nonsurgical treatment, Physical function, Quality of life, Near infrared spectroscopy

Core Tip: Nonsurgical treatment improved lower extremity function and quality of life in patients with varicose veins, bringing their condition close to that of healthy individuals. However, this study found no significant difference in muscle oxygenation. We posit that significant changes may be observed in more severely ill patients or long-term follow-up.