Comparing anesthesia protocols in high intensity focused ultrasound treatments: The HIFU-pain study

Backgroundto compare different anesthesia protocols during High Intensity Focused Ultrasound (HIFU) for saphenous trunk (GSV/SSV) and/or varicosities incompetence treatment.Material and methodspatients with GSV/SSV incompetence with varicose veins underwent HIFU under different anesthesia protocols. The primary endpoint was the pain score during HIFU using a 10-point scale.ResultsOut of 262 legs analyzed, main pain score was 1.03 ± 1.27. Intradermal + oral anesthesia treatments resulted in less procedural pain if compared with intradermal ± perivenous protocols (1.30 ± 0.19 vs 0.81 ± 0.09; <i>p</i> = .001). Conversely, perivenous injection decrease early complete recanalization rate.ConclusionThese preliminary results suggest that HIFU is an almost pain-free procedure. Procedural pain could be further minimized by using specific intradermal + oral anesthesia treatments, despite perivenous anesthetic could improve postoperative outcomes.