As with surgery, isolated varices will recur, requiring treatment. Simple injections suffice if new varices are detected early, and compression may not be necessary. Injection therapy has few complications. Allergic reactions are rare. If both legs are to be treated, it is best to allow a few hours for the solution to be excreted from the first leg before treating the second leg.
Extravascular injection can cause the overlying skin to slough, with subsequent scarring.
Deep vein thrombosis with embolism is rare. Commonly cited indications for surgery include pain, recurrent thrombophlebitis, skin changes, and cosmetic reasons. Since the advent of bypass grafting of coronary and peripheral arteries, every effort is made to preserve the saphenous veins. Physicians who believe that surgery is the treatment of choice recommend that the saphenous veins be stripped only if diseased throughout from ankle to groin. Those who recommend extensive surgery strip the long and sometimes the short saphenous veins and, by dissection, remove as many of the tortuous and saccular varices as possible.