Michael Gaunt is delighted to announce he is opening a new practice at The London Clinic in Harley Street in January 2014

This is following extensive enquiries from all over the UK as well as international patients. Mr Gaunt believed the time was right to open a new clinic based in central London. From late January 2014 patients both old and new can visit him at The London Clinic. This will allow him to care for those people who may not have been able to reach him in the other areas where he practises.

Mr Gaunt talks about the ClariVein technique at the Vascular Society AGM

Mr Gaunt was invited to give a presentation about the ClariVein technique at the 2013 AGM of the Vascular Society in Manchester on Wednesday 27th November.

Self Funding Your Private Varicose Vein Treatment

Increasingly, private hospitals are providing medical loans to enable patients to access private medicine and spread the costs with 0% interest or very low rates of interest with flexible repayment periods.

The cost of treatment of Varicose Veins depends on your outpatient assessment with Duplex ultrasound scan. Once this has been performed, Mr Gaunt can discuss with you, the various treatments appropriate for you and an estimate of costs can be provided. Once a treatment plan is agreed, the cost is fixed and that is the maximum you pay so there are no hidden surprises.

ClariVein – Results so far

In 2011, I was one of the first surgeons in the UK to offer the new technique of ClariVein for the treatment of varicose veins. We have now treated over 350 patients with the technique and I have been invited to present our results at the Vascular Society of GB & Ire. Meeting in November.

In the presentation, I will describe how successful ClariVein is for the treatment of varicose veins and how it can be performed in the outpatient clinic rather than the operating theatre. By use of local anaesthetic nerve blocks, we can achieve excellent anaesthesia and combine ClariVein with phlebectomies to provide a one stop solution. In selected cases, it is also possible to perform bilateral operations and treat more than one vein at a time. There have been no complications such as deep vein thrombosis and patient satisfaction is very high. ClariVein is also very affordable for self-pay patients.

The importance of Follow-up Ultrasound Scans after Varicose Vein procedures

The use of colour Duplex ultrasound scans to diagnose venous conditions and guide modern treatments such as the endovenous laser has been one of the great advances in vascular medicine and surgery.

However, Duplex scans are also an important quality control method and are an essential part of the follow-up process after venous treatments.

The research I undertook as part of my Doctorate of Medicine thesis established ultrasound quality control as an important principle to improve patient outcomes. It is absolutely essential to apply a method to ensure that the result of any treatment has achieved its objective.

Therefore, all my venous patients undergo a repeat colour Duplex ultrasound scan as part of their routine follow-up consultation to ensure that the treatment has been 100% successful. Just relying on physical examination alone can be misleading and the scan can detect sections of vein which may not have completely sealed. Detected early, these veins can often be simply treated in the outpatient clinic. If missed, these veins can be a cause of early recurrent varicose veins which require further surgery to correct them.

Post-operative duplex scans and surgical quality control after varicose veins surgery

A major theme in the media at the moment is the focus on surgeons’ results for various procedures. One of Mr Gaunt’s major research interests is the application of quality control techniques to provide independent evidence that the results of surgery have been as successful as the surgeon believes them to be. Sometimes the results can surprising, as dealing with the multiple variations of human anatomy and physiology present a constant challenge to all medical practitioners.

Mr Gaunt’s MD research thesis investigated the use of ultrasound techniques to assess the results of arterial surgery. For this work Mr Gaunt was awarded his MD with Distinction and also won many research prizes including the prestigious Moynihan Medal and the European Vascular Surgery Prize.

Mr Gaunt has used these principles of ultrasound quality control in all aspects of his work and particularly the assessment of venous surgery. A key investigation is the post-operative colour Duplex ultrasound scan which is performed as part of the follow-up consultation in all patients of Mr Gaunt who have undergone venous procedures. This enables the small minority of patients who have problems to be picked up early while they are easily correctable. Mr Gaunt says, “I am constantly surprised to hear of surgeons to believe they are infallible and don’t see the need to check the results of their work. I believe the post-operative Duplex scan is essential to achieve the best possible results after venous surgery”.

Mr Gaunt recently treated his 300th patient with the new Clarivein treatment for varicose veins

Clarivein is one of the new minimally invasive endovenous treatments for varicose veins. At Mr Gaunt’s practice this is performed as a local anaesthetic, walk-in, walk out, outpatient procedure combined with phlebectomies which means all the veins can be treated in one convenient visit. Clarivein is particularly cost-efficient for self-pay patients because although the procedure is performed at a private hospital – with all the back-up and reassurance that this provides- the outpatient setting means that hospital costs are kept to a minimum.

Mr Gaunt says, “So far the results of Clarivein have been very good producing excellent medical and cosmetic results. In my hands the safety profile appears really good with no major complications such as deep vein thrombosis, haematoma or infection”.

Mr Gaunt has been invited to present his results on the Clarivein technique at the Vascular Society of Great Britain and Ireland meeting in November.

NICE guidelines confirm endothermal ablation techniques as the best treatment for varicose veins

The National Institute for Clinical Excellence (NICE) recently published its recommendations for the modern treatment of varicose veins based on the best available clinical research. These guidelines confirm that endothermal techniques such as endovenous laser are now the recommended primary techniques for the treatment of varicose veins. Foam sclerotherapy and traditional surgery are reserved for those veins which are not suitable for endothermal techniques – but this will be the minority of patients. The long term use of compression stockings to control the symptoms of varicose veins is no longer advised and this overturns previous advice.

Mr Gaunt says “the latest guidelines from NICE finally confirm what I and other surgeons who specialise in the treatment of varicose veins have been saying for many years that techniques such as the endovenous laser are far superior to other treatments”.

Mr Gaunt has performed over 4000 endovenous laser treatments with approximately 90% performed as local anaesthetic day case procedures with excellent medical and cosmetic results. Research on Mr Gaunt’s patients show that over 72% of patients require no analgsesia at all after leaving hospital after their day case procedure – not even a paracetamol!

The research from NICE did not consider the latest endoluminal technique, Clarivein as part of its assessment as there are not enough research papers published on this technique yet but based on Mr Gaunt’s experience of over 300 cases this is likely to receive a similar endorsement in due course.

Summer legs: no need to wait until new year. Make a resolution now that that next summer you won’t feel embarrassed to expose your legs to the sunshine because of unsightly varicose veins and threadveins

With the excellent weather this summer have you been one of those individuals who’ve longed to get those shorts or swimming costumes on but haven’t because you are embarrassed by unsightly varicose veins and threadveins? Sometimes it only takes one critical comment from a friend, family member or even a stranger to spoil your day and cause you to cover-up. This limits your choice of clothing, your leisure activities and your enjoyment of life and there is no need to put up with it any longer when modern treatments are so simple and effective. Why not book a free 15 minute consultation with Mr Gaunt to explore your options and this time next year you can enjoy the summer sunshine to the full.

Teaching at Europe’s leading vascular symposium

I was delighted to be invited to participate in the Charing Cross (CX) Symposium on 8th April. The CX Symposium is Europe’s longest-running and leading vascular symposium and is regarded as a must-attend event for cardiac professionals.

The event is a highly prestigious one, having been established over 35 years, attracting thousands of vascular specialists to the capital.

I was asked to teach mechanochemical ablation with particular focus on familiarising delegates with the Clarivein technique.

Having successfully treated over 200 patients with Clarivein since late 2010, I was delighted to share my knowledge with an enthusiastic audience of mixed backgrounds – from professors to novices.

I strongly believe teaching is an important part of medicine, something I greatly enjoy, and the hallmark of the CX Office Based Veins Course is its flexible small group, one-on-one teaching, rather than traditional lectures.

Make sorting out those varicose veins or threadveins your New Years resolution

Happy new year everyone. This is the traditional time to take stock and make resolutions for the year ahead. One such resolution may be to finally sort out those varicose veins or threadveins which having been causing discomfort or preventing you from wearing the clothes you want.

Fortunately, there has never been a better time to undergo vein treatment with a host of new minimally invasive methods which can be performed under local anaesthetic as walk-in walk-out procedures.

One such new method is the Clarivein technique. I was one of the first surgeons in the UK invited to evaluate the procedure which was developed in the USA. Over the Christmas break my team were busy writing up the results and submitting an academic paper for publication describing our first 150 Clarivein procedures. The outcomes from this have been very good with no serious complications or treatment failures combined with excellent functional and cosmetic results. In particular, the combination of Clarivein with multiple avulsions has been very successful and because this is performed under local anaesthetic in the outpatient clinic, rather than the operating theatre, this is a particularly cost-effective option for self-funding patients.

Following this with injection microsclerotherapy treatment for threadveins, which often accompany varicose veins, means you can look forward to the summer with confidence.

Best wishes for 2013.