Varicose Veins: from cosmetic blemish to limb threatening ulceration

On the 22^nd September the Spire Cambridge Lea Hospital organised a GP educational meeting in the wonderful surroundings of the Duxford Air Museum. As chairman of the Consultant’s Committee it was my pleasure to welcome over 150 General Practitioners to hear lectures from Cambridge experts on a wide range of medical conditions. I chaired the morning session which included presentations on cardiology, orthopaedics and gastroenterology. The title of my own lecture was ‘Varicose Veins: from cosmetic blemish to limb threatening ulceration’. This provided a valuable opportunity to explain why varicose veins must not underestimated and dispel some of the common myths and misunderstanding surrounding the condition. I described the latest minimally invasive techniques for the treatment of varicose veins and thread-veins which stimulated a lot of interesting questions. The GPs were particularly interested in the way these techniques have totally changed the treatment of varicose veins to a local anaesthetic walk-in, walk-out technique with almost immediate return to normal activities.