Skip to main content
OpenTrials
Recruiting

NCT Number: NCT07362719

Therapeutic Efficacy of the Phlebology-oriented Thermal Cure at the Saint-Eloy Thermal Center in the Treatment of Symptoms of Severe Chronic Venous Insufficiency

Chronic venous insufficiency (CVI) is a common progressive vascular disease that affects nearly one-third of the French population. Despite considerable advances in the treatment of chronic venous insufficiency, this condition remains a burden for patients and national healthcare systems.

Balneotherapy-which includes thermal cures-is part of the therapeutic arsenal used in the treatment of chronic venous insufficiency. It is a relatively effective alternative with a relatively low cost compared to drug or surgical treatments. Phlebology is a thermal treatment orientation recognized by the French social security system.

The Saint-Eloy Thermal Center is listed among the thermal stations approved by the French Ministry of Health. It currently uses thermal water from Amnéville-les-Thermes to treat rheumatological and respiratory conditions, and wants to expand its range of orientations by adding phlebology. The AMNEVILLE-PHL study therefore aims to evaluate the efficacy and safety of the Saint-Eloy thermal cure for phlebology in patients suffering from severe chronic venous insufficiency.

Recruiting

Interested in participating?

Request Info

Key information

Conditions

Venous Insufficiency of Leg

Age range

18 year and older

Sex eligibility

All sexes

Study type

Interventional

Phase

Not applicable

Primary location

Centre Thermal Saint-Eloy

Amnéville, 57360, France

Location status: Recruiting

Location contact

Catherine DESMET

SUB_INVESTIGATOR

Claudine INVERNIZZI

CONTACT

[email protected]

+33 3 87 70 99 43

Claudine INVERNIZZI

PRINCIPAL_INVESTIGATOR

Concetta GUYARD-INFANTINO

SUB_INVESTIGATOR

Jean-Jacques MARTINEC

SUB_INVESTIGATOR

Judicaël BRAUNER BOYER

SUB_INVESTIGATOR

Julie MATHIEU

SUB_INVESTIGATOR

Simon RUDYNSKI

SUB_INVESTIGATOR

Who can participate

Healthy volunteers accepted: No

Only the study team can determine whether someone qualifies for participation.

Inclusion criteria

  • Adult male or female (≥ 18 years of age).
  • Patients with severe chronic venous insufficiency of the lower limbs (C4a,b,c - C5 according to the CEAP (Clinical manifestations, Etiology, Anatomic distibution, Pathophysiology) classification (2020 revision) for at least one of the legs) confirmed by venous Doppler ultrasound of the lower limbs.
  • Patients with an indication for a thermal cure exclusively focused on phlebology.
  • Patients available to participate in a 3-week consecutive thermal cure at the Saint-Eloy Thermal Center, followed by 6 months of clinical follow-up, in accordance with the protocol schedule.
  • Patients available to attend the visits scheduled in the protocol and able to complete the data collection documents.
  • For women of childbearing age: patient using effective contraception.
  • Patient affiliated with a health insurance plan or beneficiary (Art. L.1121-8-1, French Public Health Code).
  • Patient who has given their informed consent in writing regarding their participation in the protocol.

Exclusion criteria

  • Patients with a contraindication to thermal cure.
  • Patients who have participated in thermal cure (regardless of type) within the last 9 months.
  • Patients who have had an ulcer on their lower limbs that has healed within the last 3 months.
  • Patients without venous trophic disorders of the lower limbs, and in particular patients with isolated class C3 chronic venous insufficiency or less in both lower limbs.
  • Patients with an open ulcer on a lower limb (class C6).
  • Patients for whom interventional venous treatment is due to begin within the next 6 months.
  • Patients scheduled to undergo orthopedic surgery on the lower limbs within the next 6 months.
  • Patients who are unable to walk.
  • Patients with a known allergy to sulfur.
  • Patients with any medically significant findings or significant history that may impact safety, interpretation of results, and/or subject participation in the study at 6 months, in the investigator's opinion.
  • Patients simultaneously participating in another clinical trial or who have participated in another clinical trial for which the exclusion period has not ended.
  • Vulnerable persons (Art. L.1121-5 to 8, and L1122-1-2, French Public Health Code).

Treatment and study plan

Phlebology oriented thermal cure

Other

The phlebology oriented thermal cure takes place over a period of 3 consecutive weeks, with 6 days of cure per week (Monday to Saturday, i.e. 18 days). It includes 72 treatment sessions over the 18-day period and three medical consultations (including an initial consultation, a mid-course consultation, and a final consultation) organized by the resort's thermal doctors. The treatment program is established by the thermal doctor based on the patient's clinical profile.

Primary outcomes

  1. Efficacy in relieving symptoms of severe chronic venous insufficiency

    Time frame: At baseline, at 3 months

    Measurement of the evolution in the modified Venous Clinical Severity Score (mVCSS ).

    The Venous Clinical Severity Score (VCSS) is composed of 10 items evaluating 8 clinical signs (pain, varicose veins, edema, skin pigmentation, inflammation, induration, ulcer, use of compression device). Each clinical sign is assessed on a scale of 0 to 3 (Absent (0), Mild (1), Moderate (2), Severe (3)) with a total VCSS score ranging from 0 to 30. The mVCSS excludes the item about the use of compression device because the thermal cure includes raising patient awareness about the importance of wearing compression devices. Thus, the modified VCSS score consists of 9 items with a total score ranging from 0 to 27. The lower the score, the fewer symptoms the patient has. The score is rated for both legs, but only the most severe leg based on the score at Baseline will be retained for the Primary Outcome Measure.

    The mVCSS is rated by an independant evaluator, and will be compared between both arms.

Secondary outcomes

  1. Efficacy in relieving symptoms of severe chronic venous insufficiency

    Time frame: At baseline, at 3 months, at 6 months

    Measurement of the evolution in the mVCSS (modified Venous Clinical Severity Score), as described in the primary outcome measure.

    The modified VCSS score consists of 9 items with a total score ranging from 0 to 27. It is rated for both legs.

  2. Efficacy in relieving symptoms of severe chronic venous insufficiency

    Time frame: At baseline, at 3 months, at 6 months

    Measurement of the evolution in the complete VCSS (Venous Clinical Severity Score).

    The complete VCSS is composed of 10 items evaluating 8 clinical signs (pain, varicose veins, edema, skin pigmentation, inflammation, induration, ulcer, use of compression device). Each clinical sign is assessed on a scale of 0 to 3 (Absent, Mild, Moderate, Severe) with a total VCSS score ranging from 0 to 30.

  3. Pathology-related quality of life assessment

    Time frame: At baseline, at 3 months, at 6 months

    Self assessment of quality of life using the ChronIc Venous Insuficiency quality of life Questionnaire composed of 20 items (CIVIQ-20).

    The CIVIQ-20 is especially developped to assess the impact of chronic venous insufficiency on the patient's quality of life. A score will be calculated based on the questionnaire, from 20 to 100. The lower the score, the better the patient's quality of life.

  4. Quality of life assessment

    Time frame: At baseline, at 3 months, at 6 months

    Self assessment of quality of life using the 5-dimension 5-level EuroQol (EQ-5D-5L) questionnaire, to assess the patient's general quality of life. The questionnaire consists of five questions (mobility, personal autonomy, daily activities, pain/discomfort, anxiety/depression) and a visual analog scale (VAS).

    For each patient, a health status (ranging from 11111 to 55555) will be obtained.

  5. Impact on patient discomfort

    Time frame: At baseline, at 3 months, at 6 months

    Self assessment of the patient's discomfort intensity due to the chronic venous insufficiency, using a Visual Analog Scale (VAS) [10 cm line].

    A 10 cm line represents the intensity of the patient's discomfort. The patient places their discomfort on this line. 0 cm corresponds to a total absence of discomfort. 10 cm represents the worst discomfort the patient can imagine. The closer the patient places themselves to 10 cm, the worse their discomfort is.

  6. Impact on skin pigmentation

    Time frame: At baseline, at 3 months, at 6 months

    Chromametric measurement on the calf skin using a chromameter.

  7. Safety of Thermal Cure

    Time frame: Through study completion, an average of 6 months

    Adverse events and serious adverse events occurence. Skin, mobility, and vascular events are recorded.

  8. Impact of the thermal cure focused on the the patient's clinical evolution assessed by the investigator

    Time frame: At 3 months, at 6 months

    Assessment of the clinical evolution by an independant evaluator using a 3-point Likert scale: better, neither better nor worse, worse.

  9. Impact of the thermal cure focused on the the patient's clinical evolution self-assessed by the patient

    Time frame: At 3 months, at 6 months

    Self-assessment by the patient of his clinical evolution, using a 3-point Likert scale: better, neither better nor worse, worse.

  10. Compliance for wearing compression devices

    Time frame: At baseline, at 3 months, at 6 months

    Assessment of the compliance for wearing compression devices using the "Compression therapy" item of the VCSS (Venous Clinical Severity Score), that goes from 0 to 3.

  11. Patient satisfaction with the Saint-Eloy phlebology-oriented thermal cure

    Time frame: Between 3 weeks and 2 months

    Satisfaction questionnaire with 23 items for the patients of the interventionnal arm. The passation of the questionnaire is done at the end of the thermal cure.

    18 items use a numeric scale from 1 to 5 and 1 item use a numeric scale from 0 to 10. The minimal score is 18 and the maximal score is 100. The higher the score, the greater the patient satisfaction.

    2 items are binary closed questions (Yes/No). Positive responses correlate with patient satisfaction.

    2 items are optional open questions for positive or negative comments.

  12. Medico-economic impact

    Time frame: At baseline, at 3 months, at 6 months

    Measurement of health care consumption and absenteeism at work through closed-ended questions.

Study contacts

Contact information is provided by the study sponsor or research team.

Guillaume DUMAS

CONTACT

[email protected]

+33 3 87 71 83 52

Ophélie FLAGEUL

CONTACT

[email protected]

+33 2 99 12 19 62

Sponsors and collaborators

Lead sponsor

Société d'Exploitation des Thermes d'Amnéville

Other

Collaborators

  • Slb Pharma

Registry information

Acronym: AMNEVILLE-PHL

Important dates

Study start
2026
Primary completion
2027
Study completion
2027
First posted
Jan 23, 2026
Registry last updated
Jul 20, 2026

OpenTrials presents study information sourced from ClinicalTrials.gov. The official registry record should be consulted for the latest information.

View the official ClinicalTrials.gov record (opens in a new tab)

This listing is for discovery and informational purposes only. It is not medical advice, does not guarantee that a study is recruiting, and does not determine eligibility. Contact the study team and a qualified healthcare professional when considering participation.

Related clinical trials

Published trials that share one or more normalized conditions with this study.