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VARICOSE VEINS AND PREGNANCY

VARICOSE VEINS AND PREGNANCY

Pregnancy is a condition that strongly predisposes the body to develop varices, favoring the emergence of new ones or aggravation of preexisting ones, for a variety of physiological modifications (reduction of venous tone for the increased rate of blood oestroprogestative hormones, fluid retention, compression by the gravid uterus on the veins).

Varicose veins in pregnancy usually involve annoying and / or disabling symptoms like swelling, pain and heaviness of the legs and can get complicated because of increased coagulability of blood with varicophlebitis; the more difficult and dangerous period is the last quarter and the post-partum.

Varicose veins in pregnancy:

The main recommendation during pregnancy is to use elastic stockings with different degree of compression based on time of gestation (light more in the first five months and heavier after the fifth month) and according to whether prevention treatment, when there is no real disease, or to treat evident and/or symptomatic varicose veins.

In view of childbirth it is also to be considered whether or not to perform antithrombotic prophylaxis with injections of low molecular weight heparin, especially in the case of previous thrombosis or of thrombophilic condition (congenital or acquired predisposition to clotting).

The treatment of varicose veins should be performed after breastfeeding and anyway not before six months, because of a partial regression of varicose disease after childbirth.

Varices in view of a pregnancy:

In presence of varicose veins, if you plan to become pregnant, the current orientation of the scientific community is to preserve the saphenous vein (whose removal would expose to the risk of recurrences with characteristics that make it more difficult to treat them later) but remove real varicose vein (which are generally the collateral branches of the saphenous vein)