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Efficacy of Radiofrequency Ablation (RFA) in the Treatment of Varicose Veins: a Systematic Review and Meta-analysis

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Abstract

Varicose veins are a common disorder for which different treatments with varied efficacy have been introduced so far. In this study, we review the results of previous studies to evaluate the efficacy of ClosureFast endovenous radiofrequency ablation (RFA) in treating varicose veins. The present study was performed based on the Meta-analysis Of Observational Studies in Epidemiology (MOOSE) protocols, and the results were reported based on the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-analysis (PRISMA) guideline. Searches were conducted in all authentic online databases, and the retrieved papers were conducted until March 2021 using Mesh keywords. Study data with the necessary quality to enter the meta-analysis were extracted. Data were analyzed using comprehensive meta-analysis (CMA) software version 2. The cutoff level for significance was determined at 0.05. In total, 36 studies with sample size 7404 procedures were included. Radiofrequency ablation success, recurrence, and recanalization rates in the treatment of varicose veins were estimated to be 95%, 7%, and 3% respectively. The most common complications were bruising 13%, induration 11.6%, edema 8%, ecchymosis 7.4%, and numbness 6.3%. This study showed that the radiofrequency ablation method is a high-performance method with few and often transient complications, and the risk of significant complications in using this method to treat varicose veins is low. More studies are needed to evaluate the effectiveness of this method compared to other treatments.

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Data Availability

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Abbreviations

GSV:

Great saphenous vein

RFA:

Radiofrequency ablation

EVLA:

Endovenous laser ablation

MOOSE:

Meta-analyses of Observational Studies in Epidemiology

PRISMA:

The Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-analysis

CMA:

Comprehensive meta-analysis

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Acknowledgements

We sincerely thank Ilam University of Medical Sciences Research Committee for helping us with this research.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Faculty of Medicine, Associate Professor of Vascular & Endovascular Surgery, Ilam University of Medical Sciences, Ilam, Iran

    Mohammad Karimian

  2. Department of General Surgery, Faculty of Medicine, Kermanshah University of Medical Sciences, Kermanshah, Iran

    Zeinab Tardeh

  3. Faculty of Medicine, Student Research Committee, Ilam University of Medical Sciences, Ilam, Iran

    Younes Mohammadi

  4. Department of Epidemiology, Modeling of Noncommunicable Disease Research Center, School of Public Health, Hamedan University of Medical Sciences, Hamedan, Iran

    Samira Tardeh

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  4. Samira Tardeh
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Contributions

ZT and ST acquired the data. YM analyzed data. MK and ZT interpreted the data. ZT and MK drafted the manuscript; YM, ZT, and MK critically revised the manuscript for important intellectual content. MK supervised the study. All authors have read and approved the manuscript.

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Correspondence to Zeinab Tardeh.

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Karimian, M., Tardeh, Z., Mohammadi, Y. et al. Efficacy of Radiofrequency Ablation (RFA) in the Treatment of Varicose Veins: a Systematic Review and Meta-analysis. Indian J Surg 85 (Suppl 1), 61–70 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12262-022-03613-y

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