Intervention by surgery, VNUS Closure®, or endovenous laser is generally performed on an outpatient basis. All are comparable in results to groin-to-knee stripping, and the most common complication is ecchymosis. Ecchymosis is a black-and-blue discoloration in the region of the treated vein. This clears in time without treatment. There is more ecchymosis (bruising) with stripping than with endovenous laser, and less with VNUS Closure® than with the laser.

Serious complications such as blood clots or wound infections are extremely rare after vein surgery.

An estimated 20% of surgeries for primary varicose veins result in recurrent varicosities. Indications for reoperation for recurrent varicose veins are similar to those for first-time varicose vein operation. The operation is performed either through the groin or through the mid-thigh perforating veins (small veins that connects the deep and superficial veins).

All patients with recurrent varicose veins should have either duplex ultrasound imaging (a noninvasive technique that uses sound waves to determine the direction and velocity of blood flow or varicography (x-ray of varicose veins) so that all sites of recurrence can be identified.

Varicose veins come back more frequently after ligation of the saphenous vein than after stripping. They are also more common after ligation of the saphenous vein and sclerotherapy than after stripping and sclerotherapy.