Source: Neurotoxicology  |  Posted 9 years ago

Use of a millisecond-pulsed Nd:YAG laser with 50 millisecond pulses is effective for treatment of reticular leg veins, according to a comparative study.

Dr. N.E. Omura and colleagues at Dartmouth Medical School, Harvard Medical School, and the Laser and Skin Surgery Center of New York, evaluated a single treatment with a 50 millisecond 1064nm Nd:YAG laser in the treatment of reticular veins of the lower extremity in 20 patients.

Eleven patients were pretreated with a topical anaesthetic cream for 1 hour before the treatment was given, and they wore compression stockings for 5 days after treatment. Nine of the patients were treated without topical anaesthesia and did not wear compression stockings.

Two thirds of vessels measuring 1 to 3 mm in diameter cleared more than 75 percent with one treatment. "Larger vessels appeared to improve more than smaller vessels," the authors write." Immediate treatment discomfort was tolerable".

Side effects were minimal and included superficial thrombosis, delayed bruising , hyperpigmentation, and matting.