Publisher's Synopsis
Varicose veins-tortuous, elongated, and diluted-develop as a result of prolonged standing. Valvular defects, vein compression due to any mass, etc.) is a common problems in the general adult population, with a prevalence of 10-15% and a female gender predisposition. The clinical features are not life-threatening but are definitely life-disturbing in nature and range from swelling, discoloration, fatigue, and night cramps to ulcer formation in later stages. The disease is termed Kutila-Sira in Ayurveda and is also covered under the description of "Siraj Granthi." This disease does not have promising conservative management through conventional treatment modalities, and many patients have to undergo surgery. Therefore, a study was planned to come up with a safer, more effective, and more economical solution through AYURVED using leech therapy. AYURVED offers Raktamokshana as a potent treatment modality in vascular disorders, and Jalaukavcharana, i.e., leech therapy, is the safest of the different methods. Material and methods: A total of 152 patients of both genders were included after calculating the sample size as per pre-determined inclusion criteria and randomly dividing into two groups. The trial group patients were treated with intermittent leech therapy along with lifestyle modification, whereas the control group was advised to make only lifestyle modifications. The assessment criteria were decided based on the venous severity scoring system published in the Journal of Vascular Surgery. The Wilcoxon signed ranked test and Mann Whitney u-test were used to analyze the outcome data at a 5% level of significance. Results: The trial group has shown statistically significant results when compared to the control group in the improvement of clinical condition and scoring of varicose veins. Conclusion: Leech therapy has a definite edge over lifestyle modification, and a combination of both has yielded better clinical outcomes.
