Long-term central venous access

experience with 79 catheteres in 66 patients

Abstract

Procedures such as bone marrow transplantation, chemotherapy, total parenteral nutrition and hemodialysis increasingly require long-term central venous access (LTCVA). According to the indication, fully implantable catheters (with a reservoir) or partially catheters (Broviac- Hickman) are used. In the present study, we evaluated 79 catheres consecutively implanted into 66 patient treated at the University Hospital, Faculty of Medicine of Ribeirão Preto, USP, from January 1993 to June 1997. The following parameters were evaluated: indication of venous access, type of catheter implanted, technique used, early and late complications, and duration of the implant. Thirty four of the 66 patients (51,5%) were men. Mean patient age was 28.2 years. There was a predominance of catheter implantation for chemotherapy in 55 (69.5%) patients and for bone marrow transplantation in 12 (15.2%). Twenty eight catheters with a reservoir (35.5%) and 51 partially implantable catheters (64.5%) were implanted. As to the technique used, 71,4% of the catheters were implanted by percutaneous puncture and the remaining ones by open venous dissection and catheterization. Two types of complications related to the technique occured, 9 infections and 8 late occlusions. The mean duration of catheter was 371 days for the Broviac-Hickman catheters and 395 days for the totally implantable catheters. No death occured due to the implants. The rates of early and late complications observed in the present series are similar to those reported in the literature.