In the late 1960's, many surgeons in the United Kingdom became enthusiastic sclerotherapists as a result of the work and publications of Professor George Fegan a few years earlier. This resulted in many centres using compression sclerotherapy alone for all types of varicose veins--some centres virtually abandoned the surgical approach even in the presence of sapheno-femoral and/or sapheno-popliteal reflux. Although initial results seemed remarkable, it gradually became clear that after a few years, recurrent varicose veins were prevalent particularly in those patients who had initially demonstrated reflux. The magnitude of the problem only became fully defined with the publication of the 6 year results of the random trial, "Surgery versus Sclerotherapy" from John Hobbs at St. Mary's Hospital, London. (John Hobbs - The treatment of venous disorders. Edinburgh, R. & R. Clark Ltd, 1977).