[Ambulatory treatment of varicose veins]

Only a small part of the varicose veins need inpatient treatment. Restricting strippings to the diseased saphenous segments and the use of Muller's technique ('phlébectomie ambulatoire') permits the majority of patients to be treated on an ambulatory basis. In 1990 and 1991, 453 of 723 operations were performed under local anesthesia. 233 of the 686 insufficient long and short saphenous veins were treated by high ligation-with or without stripping-in local anesthesia. The limitations of ambulatory surgery are defined by the extension of the varices and by the presence of a seriously diseased long saphenous vein necessitating a stripping.