Tests are often needed to tell the extent to the venous malformation and to confirm the diagnosis. They can include, MRI, CT, doppler or occasionally angiography. Venous malformations grow slowly over many years. The malformed veins have slow flow and do not drain. Most Venous Malformations do not need to be treated.
Medical treatments are often effective and include aspirin and supportive devices.
Recurrent pain from clotting of the blood in the venous malformations can often be avoided by an aspirin twice a week. Surgical treatments can be used to remove the mass of the venous malformation. Although surgery can be quite effective it is often difficult to separate the venous malformation from the surrounding nerves and other important tissues. It can be hard to get the tissues to heal well if the edges contain venous malformation. It does have the advantage that very large areas can be treated at a single treatment.