Abstract

Background: To assess prevalence and risk factors for lower limb varicose veins during pregnancy.
Materials and Methods: 112 pregnant women during prenatal follow-up were enrolled. Varicose disease was clinically identified and classified according to Widmer’s criteria: trunk varicose veins, reticular varicose veins, and telangiectasias; being reclassified according to the criteria of the CEAP clinical classification. Patients without visible or palpable signs of varicose disease were considered as CEAP C0. The results of prevalence and risk factors were recorded.
Results: Age group 18-24 years had 62, 25-31 years had 34 and 32-38 years had 26 patients. The difference was significant (P< 0.05). CEAP C1 e C2 varicose veins were seen in 80 and CEAP C0 in 42. The difference was significant (P< 0.05). Varicose veins type C2 was seen in 22, C1 in 58 and C0 in 32. The difference was significant (P< 0.05). In multivariate analysis, age over 22 years and positive family history, were significant for varicose veins disease (CEAP C2) with odds ratio above 1.
Conclusion: The high prevalence of varicose disease during pregnancy, etiopathogeny and risk factors involved advanced age and positive family history