Akademik Veri Yönetim Sistemi
UIP XIX World Congress of Phlebology, 12–16 September 2022, Istanbul, Turkey, İstanbul, Türkiye, 12 - 16 Eylül 2022, ss.37-39
Background: Chronic venous insufficiency (CVI) is a medical condition caused by
anatomical and functional pathologies in the venous system, which affects blood
flow from the lower extremities to the heart. The main clinical features of CVI
are dilated veins, edema, feelings of heaviness, leg pain, paresthesia, muscle
cramps, tightness, itching and cutaneous changes in the lower extremity. These
symptoms can be further aggravated by dysfunctional pump mechanisms. In terms
of leg pain intensity, patients commonly reported lower extremity symptoms such
as pain after standing or sitting or during same stable position for a long
time, pain during walking and muscle cramps. The leg pain may limits
individual’s daily living activities and results in reduced participation in
activity of daily living in patients with CVI. The aim of this study was to
evaluate the severity of leg pain whether affects disease severity, edema,
balance, functional capacity, functionality, sleep quality, depression and
quality of life in patients with CVI.
Methods: A total of sixty patients with CVI were enrolled in the study. The
patients were in class C2-6 according to the CEAP classification system. All
patients were divided into two groups according to the severity of leg pain
evaluated by Visual Analog Scale; ≤5 Group I (n=32) and >5 Group
II(n=28).When classifying pain, the severe extremity was employed as a
reference (affected limb of patients; right: 18.3%, left: 23.3%,
bilateral: 58.4%). Patients were assessed with Venous Clinical Severity Score
(VCSS) for clinical severity, right and left lower limb circumference
measurements for edema, Single Leg Stance Test for balance, 6-min-walk test for
functional capacity, Lower Extremity Functional Scale for functionality,
Pittsburg Sleep Quality Index (PSQI) for sleep quality, Beck Depression
Inventory for depression, and The Quality of Life Questionnaire for Chronic
Venous Diseases-20 (CIVIQ-20) for quality of life.
Results: The mean age of the patients was 45.83 ± 13.25 years, and the mean
duration of disease was 8.30 ± 7.42 years. Compared to Group I, VCSS (p=0.001)
and PSQI (p=0.027) scores were found to be statistically significantly higher
and CIVIQ-20 (p=0.003) scores were lower in Group II patients. Although there
was a difference in other parameters, it was not statistically significant
(p>0.05).
Conclusion: The present study showed that leg pain intensity is an important
clinical symptom affecting disease severity, sleep quality and quality of life
in patients with chronic venous insufficiency. Therefore, when planning
treatment for these patients, it should be taken into account that targeting
the decrease leg pain might decrease clinical severity and increase sleep
quality and quality of life.
Keywords: Venous
insufficiency, Pain, Clinical characteristics, Quality of life