Deep vein thrombosis studies (40 minutes per leg)- this is scanning of all the deep veins of each leg to rule out a blood clot.

While lying down, the Sonographer will assess all of the deep veins in the leg, including all of the deep veins of the calf, for any deep vein blood clots. The Sonographer will run a transducer along your leg and assess each vein. We assess the veins by compressing them to see if there is anything within them. We also use both colour and spectral Doppler to assess the flow within the vein.

If a deep vein thrombosis within the legs is not treated, even if it is within the calf, the deep veins may become incompetent and later, skin changes including pigmentation and venous ulcers may occur.

Specialised blood tests such as thrombophilia screening are performed to assess whether you are at a greater risk of developing a clot. These tests are done prior to any treatment of your varicose veins.

At the Sydney Skin and Vein Clinic we assess all of the deep veins, as a previous clot could have caused deep vein reflux and this could be the cause of any skin changes or symptoms that you maybe experiencing.

This is one of the positions that you might be in during your ultrasound scan. The image on the right is of a deep vein thrombosis (blood clot)