Unknown-8

Schematic drawing of Given Needle. (B) The Given Needle (C) Comparison of the Given Needle bottom left with a standard handle tip above. (D) The Given Needle inserted into a standard handle.

A new microneedle device—the Given Needle—may help eradicate spider veins with one treatment, a new study in the Aesthetic Surgery Journal shows.

The Given Needle is a micro-needle with an insulated shaft that delivers low-voltage current through an exposed beveled tip, obliterating the spider vein in one treatment session.

In the new study, 30 women aged 32 to 67 were treated with the Given Needle between July 2008 and August 2009. Twenty patients had more than a 70% resolution at 6 months follow-up. The most common complication was skin erythema, which developed in 15 patients, followed by bruising in 13 patients. Both complications resolved in 2 to 3 weeks.

This 41-year-old woman presented with untreated spider veins of the right posterior of the calf. (B) Sixteen weeks after treatment. (C) One year after treatment.

“This study of the Given Needle has shown a meticulous and precise approach with clearance of more than 70% achieved in 50% of patients after the first pass,” conclude study authors who were led by Mirsad Mujadzi, MD, a plastic surgeon at Georgia Regents University in Augusta. “The results are comparable with sclerotherapy and laser, and represents an effective alternative treatment. There has been a low level of side effects.”

Local anesthesia may or may not be necessary, depending on the patient’s sensitivity to pain and physician preference, they note.

The treatment cost per session is $30 with the needle. Sclerosing agents average $80 per session. The amortized cost of laser treatment per session is between $250 and $400.