Vein disease gets dedicated clinic

Now Nielsen, a cardiothoracic and vascular surgeon, is treating veins that have become damaged and diseased.

Nielsen previously worked as a surgeon at Mercy Medical Center from 2000 to 2004. While practicing in Kearney, Neb., Nielsen decided to make vein diseases his primary line of work.

He moved back to Sioux City and opened the Siouxland Vein Center in October 2009 because he said he felt that Sioux City needed a full-service, outpatient vein treatment center.

"I think the perspective of a heart surgeon treating veins is maybe better than other people because I think ahead, 'What if they needed bypass surgery?,'" Nielsen said, while sitting in the lobby of his newly renovated 3,000-square foot clinic, 4630 Singing Hills Boulevard, where he employs his wife of 27 years, Kathy, as office manager, and Beth Sitzmann, a registered nurse.

Nielsen explains that men and women ranging in age from their late 20s to 80s can suffer from bulging veins in the legs, known as varicose veins, which are caused by valves working improperly. Many factors contribute to vein disorders, including heredity and standing professions, such as manufacturing and teaching.

Bad valves can also cause veins to rupture and ulcers and deep sores to develop, according to Nielsen. He said patients suffering from vein disease often feel aching pain, throbbing, tiredness and swelling in their legs and sometimes develop itchy skin lesions.

"They're going to wound clinics and they can't get them to heal," Nielsen said of his patients.

Nielsen uses radio-frequency, RF, energy to seal unsightly and often painful varicose veins closed.

Unlike vein stripping, a procedure Nielsen calls "barbaric," the VNUS Closure Procedure he performs is an outpatient procedure that takes about an hour from start to finish to complete and leaves the vein in place. The procedure has a 97 percent success rate.

In the procedure room, patients can watch television on a flat screen while Nielsen uses local anesthetic to numb the area. With ultrasound, he is able to position a closed catheter powered by RF energy, into the diseased vein through a tiny opening in the skin. The RF energy shrinks the vein wall and seals the vein closed, re-routing blood to healthy veins.

"It heats the walls and causes it to close," he said. "We'll heat a segment and pull back. Heat a segment and pull back. The actual closing of the vessel itself takes 2.5 minutes."

After the procedure, which is covered by most insurance companies, patients are served chocolate chip cookies while they relax in a comfy leather chair.

For more information about VNUS and other treatments, contact the Siouxland Vein Center at (712) 271-VEIN or visit www.siouxlandveincenter.com.