No Benefit of Wearing Compression Stockings after Endovenous Thermal Ablation of Varicose Veins: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis

Objective This meta-analysis was conducted to investigate whether compression stockings were necessary after endovenous thermal ablation of varicose veins. Data Sources Electronic databases, including MEDLINE, EMBASE, and the Cochrane Library database, were searched from inception to 10 March 2021 to identify all the related trials. Methods Random or fixed effects models were used to generate pooled mean difference (MD) or standardised mean difference (SMD) for continuous data, risk ratios (RRs) for dichotomous data, and related 95% confidence intervals (95% CIs). The quality of evidence was graded with a specific tool (GRADEpro GDT) from the GRADE working group. Results A total of seven randomised controlled trials (RCTs) comprising 1 146 patients were included in this meta-analysis. Wearing compression stockings was correlated with lower post-operative pain scores from a 0 to 100 mm visual analogue scale (MD –8.00; 95% CI –12.01 – −3.99; p Conclusion After endovenous thermal ablation of varicose veins, wearing compression stockings was not associated with a better outcome except for mild pain relief. Post-operative compression stockings may be unnecessary after endovenous thermal ablation.