My mother is 82 and she has varicose veins that have gotten progressively worse in the past 2 years. She complains that they are painful and make her legs feel heavy. She's in good health and active, but is there an upper age limit with ELA?
There is not specifically an age limit for ELA. It is more a conversation to make sure that she is able to walk post-procedure to protect against developing a DVT (aka blood clot). We usually recommend walking for 1-2 hours immediately following the ELA procedure and walking for 1 hour per day for the following 2 weeks, which can be spread out throughout the day. Glue closure may also be a possibility and would be an easier recovery without the need for compression stockings.
Published on Jul 11, 2012
There is no upper age limit . The beauty of the procedure is that it is done under local anesthesia so it is extremely safe. I would recommend monitoring during the procedure with EKG, BP and 0xygen saturation.
Published on Jul 11, 2012
There is no age limit. The most important issue is mobility. As long as she is active, the endovenous procedure could improve her quality of life.
Published on Jul 11, 2012
No, there is not.
Published on Jul 11, 2012
It all depends on the health of the individual. The endovenous procedures really are minimally invasive, and I have treated several healthy patients that are in their nineties with excellent outcomes.
Published on Jul 11, 2012
No age limit just so long as the patient is in good enough health and does not have any contraindications to do the procedure. It is important to also make sure that the indication for doing the EVLA is appropriate and reasonable. I have performed this on people ranging in age from 24 to 88, with excellent results!
Published on Jul 11, 2012
No age limit. For our practice if a patient is able walk they are a candidate. If she has vein disease and can walk then I would pursue treatment for her.
Published on Jul 11, 2012
The important issue is the severity of symptoms and the degree of limitation of activity by the vein disease for the elderly. Chronologic age is not a reason not to do a procedure which is indicated for treatment of severe venous insufficiency.
Published on Jul 11, 2012
No there is no limit on the age of patients eligible for endovenous ablation. It depends more on the functional status of the patient and the severity of their disease. In an active, functional patient with severe edema, skin changes, history of or impending hemorrhage, or venous ulceration, endovenous ablation may very well be an excellent candidate for
endovenous ablation.
Published on Jul 11, 2012
No limitations it depends on the patient. I have done patients age 13 to 90.
Published on Jul 11, 2012
No, there is no age limit. It is quite feasible on octogenarians and the risk of complications is not much different than on younger patients.
I have intervened on a number of octogenarians and the results were quite impressive and rewarding for the patients.
Published on Jul 11, 2012
NO there is no age limit. In general, like all elective procedures your mother's general health should be taken into consideration when deciding whether to have the procedure. ELA, Endovenous Laser Ablation is a pretty low risk procedure so if your mother is healthy there is no reason not to have her varicose veins treated.
Published on Jul 11, 2012