Evaluation of Subclavian Central Venous Port Catheters Placed by Anesthesiologists: Single-Center Experience

Abstract

Introduction:A Central Venous Port Catheter (CVPC) is a key part of the chemotherapy and palliative care of cancer patients. CVPC is placed by surgical clinics, oncologists, and anesthesia and reanimation specialists. In our study, we aimed to examine the complications related to subclavian CVPCs inserted by anesthesiology and reanimation specialists and to share the experiences obtained.Methods:The study included 1,805 cancer patients who underwent CVPC in the anesthesiology and reanimation clinic of the University of Health Sciences Turkey, İstanbul Training and Research Hospital. The medical records of the patients were reviewed retrospectively. The data obtained were analyzed and the mean age, gender distribution, and distribution of patients according to diagnoses, count, and percentages of early and late complications were calculated.Results:The records of 1,805 patients who underwent subclavian CVPC placement with the percutaneous method were reviewed retrospectively. Early complications occurred in 6 of our patients. Of these six, 3 patients had pneumothorax, (acute atrial fibrillation attack due to intervention in 1 patient, air embolism in 1, and cerebrovascular event complications in 1), whereas vessel perforation and hematoma were not seen in any patient. Considering the late complications, local port infection, port thrombosis, and skin necrosis were observed in 28, 50, and 26 patients, respectively. However, neither port dislocation or rupture, or catheter-related blood vessel infection, or pinch-off syndrome and nor reservoir access wounds were detected in the patients.Conclusion:Our data analysis showed that the complication rate in our study was similar or better than many other studies compared with the data of other clinics in the literature.

Keywords

• subclavian central venous port catheter
• oncology patients
• anesthesiologists