Center offers high-tech
care for varicose veins

Snohomish County Business Journal/KIMBERLY HILDEN Dr. Phil Feliciano, a vascular surgeon at the Radia Vein Center at Mill Creek, uses ultrasound to locate a varicose vein. The center offers high-tech therapies to treat the often painful condition.

By Kimberly Hilden
SCBJ Assistant Editor

Through the use of interventional radiology and vascular surgery, the Radia Vein Center at Mill Creek offers sufferers of varicose and spider veins relief from the unsightly and often painful leg conditions.

Radia Vein Center at Mill Creek Address: 15224 Main St., Suite 303, Mill Creek, WA 98012 Phone: 425-740-2180 Web site: www.radiaveincenter.net

An offshoot of the Everett-based Radia Center for Vascular Disease, the vein center features high-tech, minimally invasive treatments performed in the office, said Dr. Phil Feliciano, noting that patient volumes have gradually increased since the center’s opening in August 2005.

“There are several vein centers around the country, typically in larger metropolitan areas,” said Feliciano, a vascular surgeon at the Mill Creek center.

According to the U.S. Department of Health & Human Services, nearly half of the U.S. adult population suffers from abnormal leg veins, with one out of two people age 50 and older suffering from varicose veins, which are caused when valves in the leg vein become weak, allowing blood to pool.

The condition can lead to blood clots, sores or skin ulcers as well as ongoing irritation of the legs, according to HHS. Spider veins can be caused by pooled blood but also by hormone changes, inherited factors and exposure to the sun. They usually are treated for cosmetic, not medical reasons.

At the Radia Vein Center at Mill Creek, the patient demographic is pretty broad, with women age 30 to 60 among the most commonly treated, said Radia marketing specialist Danna Robins. “We do see men here with painful varicose veins,” she added.

Popular treatments performed at the center include endovenous laser ablation and sclerotherapy.

With endovenous laser ablation, or ELA, a small laser fiber is passed through the damaged vein with ultrasound guidance. As it passes through the vein, the fiber delivers laser light, causing the vein to collapse and seal shut. Requiring local anesthesia, the procedure calls for inserting the fiber through a small needle-stick in the skin.

ELA is much less invasive than surgical stripping, previously the mainstay of varicose vein treatment, Feliciano said.

“We used to surgically remove the vein (on the inside of the thigh), making incisions at the groin and the knee,” he said. “Now, instead, we use a small laser fiber at the knee, put numbing medicine around the vein and zap the vein with the laser. ... Patients walk out and go home to recover. I tell everybody to take a week off, but that’s very generous.”

Sclerotherapy is the second-most common procedure performed at the center, Feliciano said.

Using sclerotherapy, a doctor injects small amounts of medication into the veins, displacing blood and causing the vein to collapse. After this nonsurgical treatment, the leg is wrapped with a compression bandage to keep the vein closed and prevent more blood from flowing into it.

“This is most commonly done for cosmetic, spider veins,” Feliciano said of sclerotherapy.

With five surgeons on staff, the vein center averages between 20 to 25 procedures a week, Office Manager Pam Gibson said. The center, with more than 2,000 square feet, has two patient exam rooms, one procedure room and one vascular lab as well as a full-time registered vascular technologist.

Located in the Mill Creek Town Center, the vein center’s interior, with its muted colors, use of lighting and wood accents, is designed to appear more like a day spa than a medical office, Gibson said.

All the doctors had input into the center’s location, Feliciano said. “This one seemed the most patient friendly. Parking was easy and fairly accessible to the patient population.”