Duplication of Great Saphenous Vein - A Rare occurance

Great saphenous vein is one of the longest vein in the body. As other venous channels this is also known to have different types of variation in its course and numbers. During the routine cadaveric dissection of undergraduate students in S.I.M.S. &R.C. Shimoga we found that the great saphenous vein was duplicated on the right side along with the presence of accessory tributaries joining it at various levels.

In our case great saphenous vein was duplicated from its origin near medial malleolus and continued till the knee joint where it was joined by a tributary and later in the lower one third of the thigh it branched like a mesh and formed three trunks which ascended in the thigh and in the upper one third of the thigh two trunks joined to form anterior accessory saphenous vein and great saphenous vein proper which received the terminal tributaries later emptied into the femoral vein by piercing the cribriform fascia.

The duplication of the great saphenous vein can explain the recurrent incompetence of the great saphenous vein. Also presence of such accessory trunks can be used for vascular grafting in cases of ischaemia and arterial blocks. The knowledge of such type of variation is important for surgeons, orthopaedicians and interventional radiologists who operate in this region.