comparison of endovenous laser and radiofrequency ablation in treating varices in the same patient

introduction: to compare endovenous laser ablation (evla) and radiofrequency ablation (rfa) in different legs in the same individual in patients with venous insufficiency. methods: sixty patients with bilateral saphenous vein insufficiency were included. evla or rfa was applied to one of the patient’s legs and rfa or evla to the other leg. results: evla and rfa complications were hyperemia at 20.7% and 31.0%, ecchymosis at 31.0% and 51.7% and edema at 27.6% and 65.5%, respectively. the rate of recanalization was 6.8% in the rfa group. no recanalization was observed in evla group. the level of patients satisfied with evla was 51.7%, compared to 31.0% for rfa, while 17.2% of patients were satisfied with both procedures. times to return to daily activity were 0.9 days in the evla group and 1.3 days in the rfa group. conclusion: evla procedure may be superior to rfa in certain respects.