Abstract

INTRODUCTION

The central venous catheter port (CVCP) is a key component of the chemotherapy and palliative care for patients with cancer. The CVCP is placed by surgical clinics, and the period of time it takes to complete the procedure between oncology and surgery clinics usually causes delays in the treatment. The present study aims to investigate the results associated with CVCPs placed by a medical oncology clinic for the first time in the literature.

METHODS

We included 2,179 patients with cancer who underwent a CVCP placement performed by medical oncology physicians within Dokuz Eylül University Medical Oncology Department. The patients’ medical records were examined retrospectively.

RESULTS

2,179 patients underwent a percutaneous CVCP placement procedure. 2,055 (94.3%) patients had CVCP in their jugular vein, 9 (4.1%) in the femoral vein, and 34 (1.6%) in the subclavian vein. 12 (0.6%) patients exhibited acute complications while 2,167 patients (99.4%) had none. We detected pneumothorax in 9 patients (0.04%), hematoma in 2 patients (0.009%), and 1 patient (0.0046%) presented with complications of acute atrial fibrillation associated with the procedure. Chronic complications included 19 (0.87%) local port infections, 19 (0.87%) blocked ports, 15 (0.68%) deep vein thrombosis, 11 (0.50%) displaced ports, 10 (0.45%) catheter-associated blood vessel infections, 2 (0.09%) skin necrosis, 1 (0.045%) compressed port (pinch-off syndrome), and 1 (0.045%) wound in the reservoir access.

DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSION

For the first time in the relevant literature, we found that the complication rates for the CVCPs placed by medical oncologists in a medical oncology clinic were no worse than those reported for the surgery clinics. Our findings encourage medical oncologists to place CVCPs themselves.