[Phlebology in German departments of dermatology. An analysis on behalf of the German Society of Phlebology]

BACKGROUND

Phlebologic diseases have become extremely common and have major socio-economic impact. However, the percentage of dermatologists working in phlebology appears to be decreasing according to the data of the German Society of Phlebology (DGP).

METHODS

To investigate the reasons for this development, we--on behalf of the DGP--sent a questionnaire to 120 German Departments of Dermatology in autumn 2012.

RESULTS

In 76 returned questionnaires, the number of physicians with additional fellowship training in phlebology averaged 1.5; the average number of those who fulfill the criteria for training fellows in phlebology was 0.9. In 71.1 % of the departments there was a phlebologist. A special phlebologic outpatient clinic existed in 73.7 % of the departments. Sonography with Doppler (89.5 %) and duplex (86.8 %) was used as the most frequent diagnostic tool. For therapy, compression (94.7 %), sclerotherapy (liquid 78.9 %, foam 63.2 %, catheter 18.4 %), endoluminal thermic procedures (radio wave 28.9 %, laser 17.1 %) and surgery (especially crossectomy and stripping 67.1 %, phlebectomy of tributaries 75 %) were used. The average number of treatments was very heterogenous in the different departments.

CONCLUSIONS

Phlebology definitely plays an important role in dermatology. Most departments fulfill the formal criteria for the license to conduct advanced training in phlebology. A wide spectrum of phlebological diagnostic and therapeutic procedures is available.