The Quality of Local Anaesthesia Associated with Intravenous Administration of Ketoprofen in Radical Operations for Leg Varicose Veins

Abstract

Objective:

To evaluate the use of intravenous ketoprofen administration during varicose vein surgery undertaken under local anaesthesia.

Setting:

Regional general hospital in Poland.

Patients:

One hundred and six patients presenting with primary long saphenous varicose veins, including those with skin changes and leg ulceration.

Interventions:

Patients underwent sapheno-femoral ligation and long saphenous stripping under local anaesthesia including femoral nerve block, having first received an intravenous infusion of ketoprofen.

Outcome measures:

Patients recorded their level of discomfort or pain on a five-point scale. Blood pressure and pulse were also recorded.

Results:

One hundred and two patients found the level of analgesia produced by this technique to be acceptable, and 75 reported no discomfort at all.

Conclusions:

The combined use of intravenous ketoprofen and local anaesthesia allowed the treatment of all patients with superficial venous incompetence irrespective of their fitness for general anaesthesia.