Madison Hospital adds Vein Center, expands services

Ashton Davis (left) and Dr. Andrew Knott, MD, stand in front of an ultrasound screen at the Madison Hospital Vein Center. (RECORD PHOTO/ALDO AMATO)

By Aldo Amato

Staff Reporter

MADISON – A new addition to Madison Hospital will once again cut down the travel time for patients seeking treatment.
The Madison Vein Center is the hospital’s new one-stop center for vein treatment and care. The full service facility is primarily used for identifying and treating spider veins, leg swelling and countless other vein problems.

“We’ll be able to treat about 90 percent of cases here,” Dr. Andrew Knott, MD, said. “Technology has brought this treatment a long way. What we are able to do here is treat the problem locally.”

Knott said the hospital uses local anesthesia and closes the vein with a valve. The closure procedure has for the most part replaced the painful vein stripping procedure that could shut down a patient for a week.

“It takes around 15 minutes to detect the area of discomfort using the ultrasound technology,” Ashton Davis, RVT said. “Patients do not have to drink any fluids at all to colorize the veins and the technology here really is a game changer.”

So far, the center has seen around 30 patients in one month of operation. Madison Hospital CEO Mary Lynn Wright said the center will one day move to a privately owned building in the works behind the hospital.

“Nothing has been built yet and we are very pleased with this location,” she said. “Eventually we will move this down to a building that we hope will be completed within 15 months of breaking ground.”

Wright said what excites her about the current location of the center is that it cuts travel time in half for those traveling from Limestone, Morgan and even Madison County.

“Now they will not have to travel all the way to Huntsville for testing and treatment,” she said. “We can now serve those in need that live close by.”

Aside from medical treatments, the center also provides cosmetic treatments. For more information or to schedule an evaluation, contact the center at (256) 265-VEIN.