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Article July 2005
Tying and stripping – Treating Varicose Veins the Old Way

Fourth in a series of articles by Mark Whiteley of The Whiteley Clinic, about Varicose Veins and the treatments available for them. Here he explains the old “tying and stripping” for varicose veins.

When the valves fail inside the vein, the blood falls down it on standing. This causes varicose veins and venous skin damage. Over 100 years ago a man called Trendelenberg understood the problem and invented the operation of tying the veins in the groin.

Research in the last 20 years has shown that the results of surgery can be made better if the vein is stripped out as well as being tied.
Unfortunately, tying the veins means cutting into the groin through the skin – leaving a painful wound that can get infected. Stripping the vein can leave a lot of bruising that can be very painful and lengthen recovery time.
Recent research from our unit in The Royal Surrey County Hospital and The Whiteley Clinic has shown that this bruising and haematoma allows the vein to grow back again. Even within the first year after tying and stripping, almost a one in four patients starts to grow their stripped veins back.
All patients that have tying and stripping get a wound in the groin. Many also get pain and bruising in the thigh, causing a slow return to normal activity and recurrence of the varicose veins due to regrowth. For these reasons, we have spent the last 6 years developing techniques to avoid tying and stripping varicose veins.