[Diagnosis and treatment of varicose veins].

Varicose veins are a common chronic disease in our population. They may frequently cause symptoms like pain, feeling of heaviness and tension in the legs. Untreated progression is frequent with complications like edema, skin changes, and venous ulcers but also deep or superficial thrombosis, pulmonary embolism as well as venous bleeding. The reasons for varicose veins are multigenetic changes with positive family history for varicose veins and degenerative tissue changes, increasing with age. For diagnosis, duplex ultrasound is key alongside the patient's medical history and clinical findings. In addition to symptomatic treatment with compression, ablation of varicose veins is available with less invasive endovenous thermal and nonthermal options and with open surgery.