Clinical Research Article Outcomes and Complications of

Objective: To determine the efficacy of sclerotherapy for venous malformations (VMs).Methods: PubMed was used to search the medical literatures for publication on the combined topics of ‘‘VMs and sclerotherapy.’ ’ The final evaluation of the venous lesions was based on both objective parameters and subjective parameters. Complications were also recorded. Results: A total of 35 studies published between 1986 and 2011 matched the selection criteria and were included. Ethanol, polidocanol, etha-nolamine oleate, and sodium tetradecyl sulfate (STS) are the 4 mainstream sclerosants. The total efficiency of these 4 sclerosants all exceeded 90 % except STS. Skin damage (10.0%) was the most common minor complication. Other complications included renal damage (3.9%), nerve damage (1.85%), muscle damage (0.66%), pulmonary embolism (0.25%), cardiovascular collapse (0.08%), and others. Conclusions: Sclerotherapy is effective for VMs. However, there is limited evidence from randomized clinical trials to support the use of any kinds of sclerosants