How Is Venous Insufficiency Diagnosed? | Dr. Figueroa Explains the Process

How do we use ultrasound to detect venous insufficiency or reflux? Venous insufficiency is caused by unhealthy valves in the veins that do not function well and result in reversal of blood flow (a.k.a. venous reflux). Using different maneuvers and various positions our sonographers will compress your leg to pump the blood upwards. They then measure the duration of reversal of blood flow. This is called reflux time. If the reflux time is more than 500 msec (just half a second!) then you likely ha