Dr. Griffin Coates said when his patients walk out of his office he and his wife often get hugs.
“I never got that with heart surgery,” he said.
Dr. Coates and his wife, Andi, a registered nurse, operate Vein Therapies of Chattanooga, a practice dedicated to the treatment of varicose veins in the legs through the new VNUS Closure Procedure.
The FDA-approved procedure, he said, allows for minimally invasive, outpatient treatment of patients through a tiny catheter and radio-frequency energy. An estimated 35 million to 40 million Americans have varicose veins.
The procedure is an alternative to the long-standard vein stripping surgery. It is similar to another minimally invasive procedure in which laser energy is delivered within a catheter.