Venous Insufficiency

Good News! The Dr. left me a VM Message this AM telling me my kidneys are fine. He thinks I have Venous Incompetence AKA Venous Insufficiency. I'm glad my kidneys are fine! I guess I can rest assured that I am in good health b/c practically everything was checked totalling up to at least $2,300.00 in medical bills. Thank God for health insurance! :) I am blessed. Anyways, I had no clue what venous insufficiency was, so I found the excerpt below on Medicine.Net. I will just wait to talk to the Dr. until my next Appointment, which is June 5th. Thanks for all of your thoughts and prayers!

How does venous insufficiency cause edema?
The veins in the legs are responsible for transporting blood up to the veins of the torso, where it is then returned to the heart. The veins of the legs have valves that prevent the backward flow of blood within them. Venous insufficiency is incompetence of the veins that occurs because of dilation, or enlargement, of the veins and dysfunction of their valves. This happens, for example, in patients with varicose veins.

Venous insufficiency leads to a backup of blood and increased pressure in the veins, thereby resulting in edema of the legs and feet. Edema of the legs also can occur with an episode of deep vein thrombophlebitis, which is a blood clot within an inflamed vein. In this situation, the clot in the deep vein blocks the return of blood, and consequently causes increased back-pressure in the leg veins.

Venous insufficiency is a problem that is localized to the legs, ankles, and feet. One leg may be more affected than the other (asymmetrical edema). In contrast, systemic diseases that are associated with fluid retention generally cause the same amount of edema in both legs, and can also cause edema and swelling elsewhere in the body. The response to therapy with diuretic drugs in patients with venous insufficiency tends to be unsatisfactory. This is because the continued pooling of fluid in the lower extremities makes it difficult for the diuretics to mobilize the edema fluid.

Elevation of the legs periodically during the day and the use of compression stockings may alleviate the edema. Some patients require surgical treatment to relieve chronic edema that is caused by venous insufficiency.