Venoplasties and stenting carried out in an office-based setting have the same therapeutic results and carry no greater risk as the same procedure done in an inpatient setting, researchers reported.
Dr. Arkady Ganelin and researchers from the Total Vascular Center in Brooklyn, N.Y. evaluated 245 patients who had undergone venography for the correction of suspected iliac vein stenosis at their office-based center. Overall, 90 women and 47 men underwent unilateral intervention and 23 women and 14 men underwent bilateral intervention.
There was a low incidence of complications such as thrombosis (2%), a figure that was similar to an inpatient setting, the researchers reported (J Vasc Surg: Venous and Lym Dis. 2015 doi: 10.1016/j.jvsv.2015.03.007).
One patient had a retroperitoneal hematoma, which occurred more than 30 days after the procedure. The average pain score was 2 out of 10 on the Likert scale.
“Our initial experience with conducting office-based procedures that were formerly only inpatient procedures has demonstrated that an office-based procedure can be safely performed with minimal complications,” the study authors wrote.
The financial burden of U.S. health care has been continuously increasing and the shift of endovascular procedures from the hospital to an office-based setting is the natural next step, they said.
If the results are sustained over the long term, office-based iliac venography and stent placement may replace the need of performing these procedures in the hospital, they concluded.
This conclusion, however, poses the question of which option would be chosen by a patient, they added.
The researchers reported having no financial disclosures.