ABSTRACT
Foam sclerotherapy is a minimally invasive treatment for lower limb varicose veins. Current evidence indicates that its efficacy may not be as high as surgery or endovenous ablation. The minimally invasive nature of the treatment however means that it has a wide application, and it can be particularly useful in patients who are not suitable for other types of treatment. NICE guidelines recommend its use as a second line after endovenous ablation. Complication rates are low and most of these are of little clinical consequence.
Subject(s)
Sclerotherapy/adverse effects , Sclerotherapy/economics , Sclerotherapy/methods , Varicose Veins/therapy , Catheter Ablation , Cost-Benefit Analysis , Endovascular Procedures , Headache/etiology , Humans , Laser Therapy , Myocardial Infarction/etiology , Nervous System Diseases/etiology , Practice Guidelines as Topic , Pulmonary Embolism/etiology , Randomized Controlled Trials as Topic , Saphenous Vein/surgery , Sclerosing Solutions/therapeutic use , Sodium Tetradecyl Sulfate/chemistry , Surface-Active Agents/chemistry , Thrombophlebitis/etiology , Treatment Outcome , Varicose Veins/pathology , Venous Thrombosis/etiologyABSTRACT
The aim of this study was to assess the quality of information available on the World Wide Web regarding the treatment of snoring. The main data source was from internet searches using the three most popular search engines using the keywords "snoring treatment". First page websites were evaluated using the DISCERN instrument (assessing reliability and information given about treatment choices). Of the 135 websites identified, 16 unique websites were evaluated in the study (the remaining being adverts or repetitions). The websites had an average overall score of 2.37 out of 5 (range 1.19-4) and 37.5 % of the websites evaluated scored less than 2 out of 5 overall, suggesting very poor quality information. Highly ranked websites on popular search engines may not contain the most reliable information. Overall the information on the internet regarding the treatment of snoring is poor and patients should be encouraged to discuss their findings with a medical professional.
