The diagnosis and assessment of venous disorders in the office and laboratory

Clinical diagnosis of venous disorders, particularly deep venous thrombosis, has not proved adequate. Venography is invasive, expensive, and thrombogenic, and these facts have encouraged the use of other techniques. Nevertheless, all three diagnostic methods (clinical, venographic, and noninvasive) are complementary. Because the noninvasive approach does not neglect the patient's history and physical examination, the results of noninvasive tests can be more easily interpreted and false-positive examinations avoided. The authors prefer the simple Doppler examinations, although they require great attention to detail and are not learned easily. Nevertheless, they are the basis of noninvasive assessment and should be thoroughly familiar to vascular diagnosticians