WALAPONE TECHNIQUE OF ENDO-VENOUS THERMO-ABLATION (WEVTA) DELIVERS SIMILAR ENDO-VENOUS LINEAR ENERGY DENSITY (LEED) AND GIVE EQUAL RESULTS TO ENDO-VENOUS LASER ABLATION (EVLA) kosala.medi@gmail.com

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WALAPONE TECHNIQUE OF ENDO-VENOUS THERMO-ABLATION (WEVTA) DELIVERS SIMILAR ENDO-VENOUS LINEAR ENERGY DENSITY (LEED) AND GIVE EQUAL RESULTS TO ENDO-VENOUS LASER ABLATION (EVLA)

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Sri Lanka

Oral or Poster

This new technique was developed as a resource efficient alternative to EVLA, which is the current standards of care in varicosities involving greater saphenous vein (GSV) due to Sapheno-Femoral incompetence (SFI). This was developed during the tenure of the principal investigator at Base Hospital Rikillagaskada which is in the historic general area of “Walapone” in the Northern slopes of the central hills of Ceylon (Sri Lanka). Thus, the name Walapone technique.

The hot biopsy forceps used in upper GI endoscopy is introduced into the GSV just above the medial malleolus through a venous cut down. Under ultrasonic guidance the tip is advanced till 2cm to the SF junction. With the diathermy in SoftCoag 90 setting (which delivers 90 W non-deep penetrating thermal energy) the tip is withdrawn 1.5cm/sec speed. This delivers Linear Endo-venous Energy Density (LEED) of 60 Joules per cm, which is as same as EVLA (60-80 J/cm).

10 patients underwent WEVTA procedure. At three months post-WEVTA assessment all showed total occlusion of the ablated part of the GSV The hot biopsy forceps can be used many a times and is very much resource efficient when compared to using a laser system and laser fibers.

WEVTA gives similar results to EVLA without the need of having to have a laser system and laser fibers. It is resource efficient and can be performed in any surgical department without additional logistics.