Guidance
3 Committee considerations
The evidence
3.1 NICE did a rapid review of the published literature on the efficacy and safety of this procedure. This comprised a comprehensive literature search and detailed review of the evidence from 14 sources, which was discussed by the committee. The evidence included 2 systematic reviews, 3 randomised controlled trials, 3 non-randomised comparative studies, 4 case series and 2 case reports. It is presented in table 2 of the interventional procedures overview. Other relevant literature is in the appendix of the overview.
3.2 The specialist advisers and the committee considered the key efficacy outcomes to be: saphenous vein occlusion rate, recanalisation, symptom relief and quality of life.
3.3 The specialist advisers and the committee considered the key safety outcomes to be: hypersensitivity, granuloma formation, thromboembolism, and nerve injury or paraesthesia.