By Katherine Kozlowski, Medical Author and Contributor to Vein News and VeinsVeinsVeins.com
As the COVID-19 pandemic spread internationally, medical resources were diverted to care for patients infected with the virus, and elective procedures and surgeries were postponed in several countries to allocate resources to the ongoing pandemic.
In order to rationalize the disease management and timing of procedures for patients with lymphatic disorders and vascular disease, the Venous and Lymphatic Triage and Acuity Scale (VELTAS) was developed.
The VELTAS scale has been co-published as a consensus in the following journals: International Union of Phlebology (UIP), Australasian College of Phlebology (ACP), American Vein and Lymphatic Society (AVLS), American Venous Forum (AVF), European College of Phlebology (ECoP), European Venous Forum (EVF), International Radiology Society of Australasia (IRSA), Latin American Venous Forum, Pan-American Society of Phlebology and Lymphology, and the Venous Association of India (VAI).
This tool can be used as a standard assessment to determine urgency with which a patient requires medical or surgical treatment.
The VELTAS categorizes patients based on the clinical conditions in conjunction with triage urgency.
There are six categories of clinical conditions:
1. Venous thromboembolism (VTE; e.g. a venous blood clot)
2. Chronic venous disease
3. Vascular anomalies
4. Venous trauma
5. Venous compression
6. Lymphatic disease
Urgency of cases are categorized as follows:
1. Medical emergencies (needing immediate assistance; e.g. a massive pulmonary embolism)
2. Urgent (needing to be seen ASAP; e.g. DVT)
3. Semi-urgent (needing intervention within 30-90 days)
4. Discretionary/non-urgent (needing intervention within 6-12 months; e.g. chronic lymphedema)
The goal of the Venous and Lymphatic Triage Acuity Scale is to standardize the classification of diseases and urgency with which intervention is needed in a patient with vascular conditions and anomalies and lymphatic diseases. It is aimed to be used during crises such as the current pandemic, or as a general classification framework.
Reference: Parsi K., M van Rij A., Meissner M. et al. Triage of patients with venous and lymphatic diseases during the COVID-19 pandemic – The Venous and Lymphatic Triage and Acuity Scale (VELTAS). Phlebology 2020; 35(8): 550-555.