Single Blind, Randomised Study Regarding the Treatment of the Telangiectasia of the Lower Limbs (C1EAP) Using Polidocanol 0,5%, 1%, and Nd:YAG Laser

The treatment of leg telangiectasias could be done with liquid sclerotherapy or Nd:YAG laser. We evaluated randomly, in a simple blind, the efficacy of the treatment with 0,5% polidocanol (POL-0,5), 1% polidocanol (POL-1) and Nd:YAG laser (LAS) on 132 patient (264 limbs) with telangiectasia of the lower limbs with less than 2mm diameter (C1EAP). The main objective was to evaluate the efficacy of the sclerotherapy (chemical compared with Nd:YAG-LAS). Secondary objectives were: possible major complications (deep thrombosis, severe burns, ischemic complications, etc.), the percentage of the local complications, the cosmetic aspect-evaluated by both the patient and the doctor and the grade of discomfort of the patient during and after the procedure. Comparing the treatment with Nd:YAG laser (LAS), polidecanol-0.5% (POL-0.5), polidecanol 1% (POL-1), it was noticed that telangiectasias smaller than 1mm led to good and very good results in all the cases treated with Nd:YAG laser and the same outcome was obtained in one third of the subjects treated with POL-0.5, vs. 47.81% of patients treated with POL-1. When telangiectasias were larger than 1mm diameter, good and very good results occurred in 86.36% of patients treated with LAS and 100% of the cases treated with POL-0.5 and POL-1. In conclusion, we consider that leg telangiectasias can be treated with good results using Nd:YAG laser or sclerotherapy with polidocanol, Nd:YAG laser being reccomended for telangiectasia under than 1 mm diameter while sclerotherapy in larger vessels.