Onkológia 3/2017

Long-term central venous catheters – choice for oncologic patients

Long-term central venous catheters (tunnel-catheter, ports, PICCs) are the part of standard oncologic care. The choice of the appropriate type of catheter depends on different factors, first of all on the plan of treatment. Each type of long-term central venous catheter (CVC) has many advantages and disadvantages. Most common indication for introducing a long-term CVC in oncological patients is prolonged chemotherapy, long-term parenteral nutrition, hydratation, adjuvant therapy or repeated blood sampling. CVC introduction is performed either as a surgical procedure known as „cut down“ technique or mostly using Seldinger method. As every invasive procedure it has many complications present either during the introduction or later in the course of catheter use. The most common complications deriving from catheter presention are catheter-oclusion and catheter-related bloodstream infections. Reduction of these complications is possible with adequate care of CVC. In conclusion we present the short retrospective analysis of 38 oncological patients with long-term CVC introduced during 2 years-period between 2013-2015.

Keywords: long-term central venous catheters, tunnel catheter, ports, indications, complications, catheter-related bloodstream infections