In an interview with Venous News at this year’s Leipzig Interventional Course (LINC 2023; 6–9 June, Leipzig, Germany), Raghu Kolluri (Columbus, USA) outlined the “vast list” of options that are now available for the treatment of patients who require saphenous vein ablation.
Turing his attention to data, Kolluri referenced SPECTRUM as the most important trial in the superficial venous space in the near future. “I cannot think of a larger trial or more important trial in this space because (a) it is the largest post-market study in the space of superficial venous intervention and (b) it is going to assess the role of closure of the great saphenous vein in the treatment of venous ulcers,” he opined. In terms of what is missing from the literature, Kolluri did stress that there is no head-to-head comparison of the available treatments to assess which has the fewest complications.
The system medical director of Vascular Medicine at OhioHealth, Kolluri also touched on the importance of multispecialty treatment, stressing that “holistic care” is crucial in the venous space. “If [you are] unable to offer the full spectrum of venous treatments, [you have] got to collaborate,” he said, here highlighting the importance of his vascular surgery, interventional cardiology and interventional radiology colleagues.
Finally, Kolluri listed some unmet needs in the saphenous vein ablation space, including which procedure to tackle first in post-thrombotic patients, and whether to treat reflux or obstruction first in venous ulcer patients.
