Emma's varicose veins operation is shown on "Don't Tell The Doctor" tonight on TV 5Star, at 11pm. If you can't see it or missed the show last Thursday, you can click the link below to watch the episode in full online.

Don't tell the doctor - Emma thrilled with her varicose veins operation at The Whiteley Clinic

Emma had very visible varicose veins. They were stopping her wearing short skirts and enjoying her beach holidays. Varicose veins operations need to me done to give a great cosmetic result. In addition, they need to have the lowest recurrence rate to give the patient the best long term result possible. Emma came to The Whiteley Clinic so that she could get both a great cosmetic result as well as the lowest recurrence rate possible. Emma underwent The Whiteley Protocol. This started with a venous duplex ultrasound performed by a Clinical Vascular Scientist, Mr Tim Fernandez-Hart. The NICE Clinical Guidelines CG168 state that patients should be assessed by a team of professionals in this way. Some clinics still have the scans done by the surgeon who also does the operation despite research presented in the USA showing this leads to veins being missed! Initially, pelvic varicose veins were thought to be the cause of Emma's problem, but the sac showed the veins to be caused by incompetent perforating veins (IPVs).

The varicose veins operation

Prof Mark Whiteley is featured on the TV show explaining the problem and then performing the varicose veins operation. The most important part is to close the incompetent perforating veins. This is done by the TRLOP (TRansLuminal Occlusion of Perforators) technique - invented by Mark Whiteley and Judy Holdstock of the The Whiteley Clinic in 2001. Once the perforators were closed with a laser, the varicose veins were removed by phlebectomies. The incisions were tiny and the whole operation was performed under local anaesthetic. Emma was thrilled with the results.   Watch the show on: https://www.my5.tv/dont-tell-the-doctor/season-1/episode-7