Treatments

What is Microphlebectomy?

By Metro Vein Centers
January 11, 2022

For bulging, painful varicose veins, microphlebectomy treatment can permanently remove problem veins, immediately improving the appearance and pain associated with varicose veins.

When patients come to Metro Vein Centers with serious vein issues in their legs, a microphlebectomy treatment can often be the best option for pain relief and improved leg health.

To define microphlebectomy: It’s an FDA-approved vein treatment for problematic veins in the legs. During this in-office procedure, a vein doctor will remove the problem vein(s) using micro incisions and several small tools. The treatment takes less than 30 minutes.

Microphlebectomy is minimally invasive and results are almost immediate.

Why Choose Microphlebectomy?

At your Metro Vein Centers consultation—which can be done in our offices in Brooklyn or Yonkers, NY, or in any one of our offices in New York, New Jersey, Michigan, and Connecticut—we will go over options after looking at your varicose veins and medical history. We will also do an ultrasound to see what’s happening below the surface of your legs as well.

A painless ultrasound on your legs will help determine the best treatment

Once we have an understanding of your specific situation, we’ll figure out the vein treatment that makes sense for you and your lifestyle. Ambulatory phlebectomy is not for everyone, and oftentimes other vein treatments such as Endovenous Laser Ablation (EVLA) or sclerotherapy could be great solutions. That said, if phlebectomy seems like the best solution for your legs, we will recommend it as a treatment option.

Metro Vein Centers clients who are great candidates for phlebectomy tend to have large, bulging, and painful varicose veins. These appear when the tiny valves regulating blood flow stop working properly, causing blood to pool in the legs. This results in blue, raised, and often sensitive veins in the legs.

Phlebectomy treatment is best for those with twisted varicose veins that cause pain and achiness. This treatment option doesn’t just help your problem veins get reabsorbed into the skin like sclerotherapy does; it actually removes the damaged vein completely from the source. This means immediate relief for individuals who have dealt with damaged and inflamed veins on their legs.

How Treatment Works

Phlebectomy procedures for varicose veins are done right here in our Metro Vein Centers offices, and are generally over within 30 minutes. The treatment works by removing the problem veins rather than just treating them. In order to do this, the damaged, swollen, and painful veins are eliminated using just a few small slits in the leg.

Before your procedure, one of our vein doctors will mark the problematic varicose veins along your legs. Our specialists will then inject local anesthesic to numb the area so you’re awake, but unable to feel any pain in your legs. Your vein doctor will then make a few tiny (2–3mm) micro incisions. Using a small hook tool along with a few other instruments, the doctor will remove sections of the bulging issue veins.

In approximately 30 minutes, you’ll be all done, with light bandages put over the incision sites, and a compression stocking. No stitches are needed and redness at the treatment site will resolve with time. In certain cases, your vein specialist may use phlebectomy in combination with one of our other vein treatments for optimal leg health.

You’ll be given compression stockings and asked to avoid exercise in order to recover quickly. You may even return to work the same day.

Phlebectomy Recovery Time

Microphlebectomy recovery is typically quick and minimally disruptive. Patients can usually return to normal activities within 24-48 hours. Mild discomfort, bruising, and swelling may occur but subside within a few days. Compression stockings are often recommended for 1-2 weeks. Full recovery and optimal results are generally seen within 2-4 weeks.

Microphlebectomy is an outpatient procedure done right in our New York, New Jersey, Connecticut, Texas, or Michigan offices. Recovery time for your microphlebectomy procedure is generally quite fast, and the entire procedure takes under an hour.

Because the incisions used for your ambulatory phlebectomy are so small (hence the term “micro” phlebectomy), stitches are not needed. You’ll feel immediate relief in your legs, and will be able to walk right out of the office yourself. Past patients at Metro Vein Centers who have undergone microphlebectomy procedures report their legs feeling lighter, less painful, and with less visible veins.

woman poses after phlebectomy - Metro Vein Centers

You should feel back to normal and much better about five days after your phlebectomy, and feel like you have an amazing new pair of legs about two to three weeks following your procedure!

Insurance and Cost

We accept over 200 insurance plans, and over 97% of our vein treatments are covered by insurance! Phlebectomy procedures, if medically necessary, are covered under most insurance carriers. After going over your treatment options, we’ll speak about phlebectomy costs and coverage under your specific plan.

Microphlebectomy Before & After

Phlebectomy Side Effects

Following your phlebectomy treatment, you may experience temporary swelling, pressure, numbness, or bruising around treated areas of your legs.

Microphlebectomy vs. Phlebectomy vs. Ambulatory Phlebectomy?

Phlebectomy and microphlebectomy are the exact same treatment, just with different names. There are a number of names for this treatment that you may have heard that all mean virtually the same thing.

Alternative names of microphlebectomy include:
Micro Phlebectomy • Ambulatory Phlebectomy • Stab Phlebectomy • Stab Avulsion • Vein Ligation • Incision Phlebectomy • Phlebectomy

Despite these different names, these terms are all synonyms for microphlebectomy, and we may use them interchangeably on medical sites.

Phlebectomy: A Minimally Invasive Treatment

Is Microphlebectomy Right for You?

Only a vein specialist can determine the best course of action for you, so making an appointment at our Yonkers or Brooklyn MVC offices—or any one of our offices in MI, NJ, and NY—is the first step.

Microphlebectomy is just one of several vein treatments we offer at Metro Vein Centers. At your consultation, we’ll look at your legs and health history to determine the best options moving forward.

If you’re experiencing painful, achy, or heavy legs, come in to one of our Metro Vein Centers locations offices to understand your options.

Your legs will thank you!

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