[Superficial venous thrombosis of the lower limbs]

With regard to deep vein thrombosis, superficial thrombophlebitis of lower limbs have a reputation of mildness disease that the experience gained from widely used duplex scanning in their evaluation comes to question. Short superficial thrombophlebitis on non-varicose veins often remain a symptom belonging to or revealing a systemic disease. Superficial thrombophlebitis on varicose veins are of two kinds: short superficial thrombophlebitis remain a common complication of varicose phlebectasia but they must be differenciated from extensive saphenous thrombophlebitis. The first ones are of local symptomatic treatment and of varicose vein surgery. The last ones are associated--with deep vein thrombosis in 10 to 30% of case (either by extension from the saphenous to the deep veins, either without anatomical link), with clinical pulmonary embolism in 5% of cases, and with a cancer in about 10% of cases. Numerous superificial venous thrombosis occur without inflammatory signs and the clinical diagnosis of extensive superficial venous thrombosis is as difficult as the one of deep vein thrombosis. So the diagnosis, the treatment, the etiological investigation of extensive superficial venous thrombosis are in fact not very different from those of deep vein thrombosis.