The Effect of 0.5% Sodium Tetradecyl Sulfate: MATERIALS AND METHODS
Patients
We performed a clinical study on 12 patients who
had venous lakes and who visited the Department of Dermatology, Hallym University Sacred Heart Hospital between June 2003 and December 2006. The male/female ratio was 5 males 7 females and their mean age was 52.91± 13.38 years (range 32 to 76). Twelve lesions were on the lower lip and one lesion was on the upper lip and these lesions ranged in size from 2 to 10 mm. No patient had undergone previous treatment for their venous lake lesions.
Methods
Prior to treatment, informed consent was given and the venous lake was photographed. Age, gender, the underlying disease, the site, size, number and duration of the venous lake lesions and the previous treatments were recorded. To ascertain the exact diagnosis, we performed a 2 mm-punch biopsy on the lesion (Fig. 1). After proper antiseptic preparation, 0.5% STS was slowly injected to each patient’s lesion by using an insulin syringe to flush the lesion clear of blood, and this was followed by immediate compression for 10 minutes. The amount of STS infusion depended on the size of each lesion, and the average STS infusion was 0.09±0.05 cc. The patients were given home dressings and they were instructed on daily care because a crust sometimes occurred. cialis professional
Photographs of each patient were taken at the first visit, every injection day, and every follow up day to record the treatment progress. The patients were reexamined two weeks after the initial injection and then their treatment was repeatedly every two weeks until the lesion had completely cleared. Complete clearance was defined when there was no detectable color difference between the lesional area and the surrounding area and there was no recurrence of the lesion.
