ROLE OF DUPLEX SONOGRAPHY IN THE ASSESSMENT OF LOWER-EXTREMITY VENOUS INSUFFICIENCY: CLINICAL AND SURGICAL CORRELATION IN A CROSS-SECTIONAL STUDY

Background: Chronic venous insufficiency of the lower limbs results from venous reflux, obstruction, or both and producesa spectrum ranging from telangiectasia and varicosities to edema, skin change, and ulceration. Duplex sonography providessimultaneous anatomic and hemodynamic assessment without ionizing radiation. The objective is to characterize duplexsonographic findings in lower-extremity venous insufficiency and examine their relationship with clinical severity andsurgical/clinical correlation. Materials and Methods: A hospital-based cross-sectional study included 30 adults evaluated inthe Department of Radiodiagnosis, Bhaskar Medical College, Moinabad, Telangana, from January to December 2025.Clinical findings were classified using CEAP categories. Duplex evaluation assessed venous compressibility, thrombus,venous refill, reflux duration, vein diameter, and truncal varicosity grade. Categorical associations were examined using chisquaretests and continuous relationships using Pearson correlation. Results: The mean age was 54.37 ± 10.90 years; 15participants were women and 15 were men. C1 was the most frequent CEAP class (26.7%), while C4-C6 together accountedfor 36.6%. Pain with swelling was the commonest symptom (23.3%). Mean venous refill time was 3.51 ± 0.62 seconds andmean reflux time was 2.43 ± 1.11 seconds. Thrombus was detected in 16 participants (53.3%) and was strongly associatedwith the higher refill-time category. Reflux time correlated positively with vein diameter (r=0.846, p<0.001). Higher truncalvaricosity grades and CEAP classes showed stronger positive clinical/surgical correlation. Conclusion: Duplex sonographyprovided clinically relevant structural and hemodynamic information and showed strong associations with disease severity,thrombus, venous diameter, and clinical/surgical findings.