Abstract: [
Abstract ] Objective Toinvestigatetheeffectofelasticstockingsonthefunctionoflower
legcircumferenceandlowerextremityvenousvalveinpatients withvaricoseveinoflower
extremity.Methods Eighty-six patients with varicoseveinsoflowerextremity.Theyall
underwenthighligationofgreatsaphenousvein.Thepatientswererandomlydividedintothe
stretchsocksgroupandthecontrolgroup.Stretchsocksgroupweregivenimmediatelystretch
sockspressuretherapyafterthestitches.Thecontrolgroupreceivednaturalrecovery.Theother
treatmentswerethesameinthe2groups.Legcircumferenceandvenousrefillingtime ( VRT )
weremeasuredinthetwogroupsofpatientsbeforeandaftersurgery , 6months , 12monthsafter
themeasurement.Results Therecoveryoflegcircum-ferenceintheelasticstockingsgroupwas
betterthanthatinthecontrolgroup , andtheVRTvaluewassignificantlylongerthanthatofthe
controlgroup.Conclusion Elasticsockspressuretreatmentforpatientswithlowerextremity
varicoseveincaneffectivelycompensatefortheinsufficiency oflowerlimb venousvalve ,
significantlyreducelegcircumference , prolongtheVRTvalue , andreducethediscomfortof
lowerlimbedema.

Key words:  varicoseveins , venousvalves , stretchsocks