Risk factors for endovenous heat-induced thrombosis after endovenous radiofrequency ablation of the great saphenous vein

INTRODUCTION: Endovenous heat-induced thrombosis (EHIT) may complicate the postoperative course of patients treated with radiofrequency ablation (RFA) of great saphenous vein. In order to reduce this complication is fundamental to improve the knowledge on the related risk factors. EVIDENCE ACQUISITION: We planned to include all the studies dealing with "risk factors" and "endovenous heat-induced thrombosis" and "radiofrequency endovenous ablation." We excluded all the studies, which did not properly fit our research question, and with insuf?cient data. EVIDENCE SYNTHESIS: Of the 29 records found, after removing of duplicates, and after records excluded in title and abstract, 12 matched our inclusion criteria. After reading the full-text articles, we decided to exclude 4 articles because of the following reasons: 1) not responding properly to our research questions; 2) insuf?cient data; the ?nal set included eight articles. CONCLUSIONS: In the context of EHIT development, major risk factors found for this complication are represented by large vein diameter, high risk for venous thromboembolism events, advanced clinical stages of cardiovascular disease, male gender, systemic inflammatory state, associated procedures to RFA, venous anatomy of the groin.