[Ostial incontinence: sclerosis or resection of the saphenous junction?]

The point of this paper was to compare the long-term results of sclerotherapy and resection/stripping. The authors base their argument on the study of 50 case histories of patients treated by sclerotherapy, and the same number of case histories of patients treated using the resection/stripping of the saphenofemoral junction, followed by sclerotherapy. All these patients were treated between 1965 and 1975 and, at the end of this ten year period, they were considered to need no further treatment, other than routine checks. The results were presented in two comparative series. It would seem that from the fifth year onwards the two methods give results which are appreciably similar, though obtained more rapidly by the resection/stripping method. With these results in mind, the authors mention the general position of the literature on the subject, asking whether it is possible to know whether the two series are really comparable, a fact which would seem certain. They investigate the situation of the patients after five years and deal with the more particular point of isolated ostial incompetence recidivism.