Abstract
Aims and background: Vascular access through a vein draining into the superior vena cava is commonly used for long-term infusion of drugs in cancer chemotherapy; prolonged cannulation of the inferior vena cava is generally considered as having an excessively high complication rate. Methods: Prolonged cisplatin infusion via the inferior vena cava by means of a Groshong catheter was evaluated in 20 consecutive patients with thoracic malignancies showing evidence of superior vena cava infiltration or obstruction. Results: We achieved 1,291 catheter days for our survey with a mean duration of vascular access of 64.5 days per patient and a mean duration of infusion time of 40 days. There were 2 complications, a catheter obstruction after a 7-day rest period and an ileo-femoral thrombosis 6 days after catheter placement. Conclusions: Our experience compared favourably with the results obtained by long-term central venous access via the supraumbilical route, and demonstrated the reliability and safety of this approach in cases where the superior vena cava cannulation is technically difficult or impossible.
Original language | English |
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Pages (from-to) | 372-375 |
Number of pages | 4 |
Journal | Tumori |
Volume | 82 |
Issue number | 4 |
Publication status | Published - Jul 1996 |
Keywords
- central venous catheter
- complications
- prolonged infusion chemotherapy
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- Cancer Research