Guidance
This guideline covers diagnosing and managing varicose veins in people aged 18 and over. It aims to ensure that people understand the options for treating varicose veins and that healthcare professionals know when to refer people for specialist assessment and treatment.
Recommendations
This guideline includes recommendations on:
- information for people with varicose veins
- referral to a vascular service
- assessment and treatment in a vascular service
- management during pregnancy
Who is it for?
- Healthcare professionals
- Commissioners and providers
- People with varicose veins and their families and carers
Is this guideline up to date?
February 2016: We have found no new evidence that affects the recommendations. For more information, see the surveillance decision.
Guideline development process
How we develop NICE guidelines
This guideline was previously called varicose veins in the legs: the diagnosis and management of varicose veins.
Your responsibility
The recommendations in this guideline represent the view of NICE, arrived at after careful consideration of the evidence available. When exercising their judgement, professionals and practitioners are expected to take this guideline fully into account, alongside the individual needs, preferences and values of their patients or the people using their service. It is not mandatory to apply the recommendations, and the guideline does not override the responsibility to make decisions appropriate to the circumstances of the individual, in consultation with them and their families and carers or guardian.
All problems (adverse events) related to a medicine or medical device used for treatment or in a procedure should be reported to the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency using the Yellow Card Scheme.
Local commissioners and providers of healthcare have a responsibility to enable the guideline to be applied when individual professionals and people using services wish to use it. They should do so in the context of local and national priorities for funding and developing services, and in light of their duties to have due regard to the need to eliminate unlawful discrimination, to advance equality of opportunity and to reduce health inequalities. Nothing in this guideline should be interpreted in a way that would be inconsistent with complying with those duties.
Commissioners and providers have a responsibility to promote an environmentally sustainable health and care system and should assess and reduce the environmental impact of implementing NICE recommendations wherever possible.