National trend of the treatment for chronic venous diseases in Korea between 2010 and 2020

PURPOSE: Limited data are available on the nationwide trend of treatments for chronic venous disease (CVD). The aim of the present study was to identify the nationwide trends of CVD treatments in Korea. METHODS: A serial, cross-sectional study was conducted with the use of time trends to analyze patients with CVD between 2010 and 2020. The trends in the number of patients and procedures were analyzed including sclerotherapy, open surgery, and endovenous thermal ablation (ETA). Health Insurance Review and Assessment Service data were used to analyze the trends. For the statistical analysis, MedCalc Statistical software was used. P < 0.05 was considered statistically significant. RESULTS: A total of 1,867,307 patients with CVD were managed in Korea between 2010 and 2020. The annual number of patients with CVD increased from 143,108 in 2010 to 219,319 in 2020 (risk ratio [RR], 1.53; P < 0.001). The percentage of patients with CVD who had venous ulcer gradually decreased from 3.1% in 2010 to 1.7% in 2020 (RR, 0.86; P < 0.001). The number of conventional surgeries including stripping and local resection of varicose veins decreased from 32,384 in 2010 to 21,792 in 2020 (RR, 0.67; P < 0.001). The number of ETAs performed increased, from 290 in 2011 to 12,126 procedures in 2020 (RR, 41.81; P < 0.001). CONCLUSION: The total number of patients with CVD increased during the last 11 years. The number of conventional open surgery and sclerotherapy procedures decreased. On the contrary, the number of ETAs significantly increased in Korea.