Venous Access Devices in Oncology

Summary

Specific anti-cancer therapy is administered mainly via the parenteral route, Adequate venous access is, therefore, a topical issue in oncology In some patients on long-term therapy, the peripheral venous system is extensively burdened We present an overview of risk factors associated with parenteral application of medicins We provide a comparison of different types of venous access devices and discuss recommendations on general indications for permanent venous access devices We suggest an approach to the choice of the most appropriate venous access device for an oncology patient available to date We present our experience with PICC (peripherally implanted central catheters) implantations used in 30 oncology patients in our centre In addition to venous ports, PICCs represent another safe method of permanent venous access with low rate of complications Indications for the use of a specific permanent venous access device (PICC or port) partly overlap and evidenced-based recommendations are lacking However, we discuss the few suggestions that have been formulated on this issue

Key words:
venous catheterization – vascular access ports – chemotherapy – cancer

The authors declare they have no potential conflicts of interest concerning drugs, products, or services used in the study.

The Editorial Board declares that the manuscript met the ICMJE “uniform requirements” for biomedical papers.

Submitted:
1. 5. 2011

Accepted:
15. 9. 2011

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