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Are new prominent veins normal after minor leg surgery? Sclerotherapy candidate? (Photos)

I had a .5mm excision on back of my leg to remove a atypical mole 3 months ago . I was told to wear an ace bandage for 3 weeks. I limited my walking for 2 weeks. During the 3 weeks I noticed I had itching on parts of my legs where there are now prominent veins on my ankle. Could faulty compression/ and lack of exercise have stretched out the veins or caused me to develop start of vericose veins? The vein goes up to the incision scar exactly. Will they return to normal?

Doctor Answers 3

Probably related.

February 14th, 2014
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I have often times seen vein formation following surgical procedures.  This is due to interruption of veins and new vein formation.  This is very common.  From your picture, you should be a candidate for sclerotherapy.  If you have a lot of veins then you may want to see a vein specialist for a venous evaluation before beginning sclerotherapy to see if there is an underlying valve malfunction contributing to the vein formation.
John Landi, MD


Naples General Surgeon
5.0 out of 5 stars 5 reviews

Leg Veins After Minor Surgery

February 13th, 2014
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It is possible that the minor skin surgery you had done on the leg contributed to the development of the leg veins. It is likely that those veins would have showed up eventually anyway. From what I can see in the picture, I think you would be a good candidate for sclerotherapy. I would wait until the excision area is completely healed. 

Web reference: http://www.barnettdermatology.com/news_media.php?cat=20&id=108

Channing R. Barnett, MD

New onset veins in the leg - what to do ? Buffalo Niagara

June 30th, 2014
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Veins that size (although small) don't form that quickly. I am sure they were there and they recently got larger. You need a venous Doppler ultrasound done to make sure there is no clots (very low likelihood) and at the same setting they will measure the sizes of these veins and also measure reflux times at several junctions between superficial and deep veins (groin, behind the knee) and also at the level of the leg (perforator veins). At that point they will formulate a treatment plan and do an ablation procedure (if needed) or just perform ultrasound guided or traditional foam sclerotherapy. Seek a board certified vein specialist from the American Board of Venous and Lymphatic Medicine. Check the American College of Phlebology physician locator site. Read the ebook about venous diseases on the link below. I also recommend that you take a supplement like Varicosamin which contains bioflavonods as a preventive measure. 

Web reference: http://www.veinsveinsveins.com/113/ebooks/

Hratch Karamanoukian, MD, FACS

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