Our Experience of 500 Chemo Port Placements with Cephalic Vein Cut Down Technique-A Saviour for Cancer Treatment.

Abstract

Implantable chemoport is a very useful device for long-term venous access for infusion of chemotherapeutic drugs and other agents. Niederhuber et al. (Surgery 92:706-712, 1982) reported on the first use of the totally implantable central venous port system (TICVPS) in 1982. Five hundred patients undergoing surgical implantation of chemoports in Bharath Cancer Hospital, Mysore, India, between September 2020 and June 2022 were included in this prospective observational cohort study. Five hundred chemoport implantations were available for analysis. The cephalic vein cut down technique was attempted in 500 patients and successful in 410 patients (82.2%). There were no intraoperative complications. Venous access device systems are nowadays widely used in cancer patients to facilitate frequent perfusions of chemotherapy (Vescia et al. in Ann Oncol 19(1):9-15, 2008). The placement of totally implanted venous access devices started 30 years ago. Since then, different techniques were established to reduce complications and to make the implantation safe and comfortable for patients (Teichgraber et al. in Cardiovasc Intervent Radiol 32(5):975-979, 2009). The cephalic vein cutdown approach for CICVAD placement appears to be a safe and better alternative to the percutaneous subclavian vein approach in cancer patients. Cephalic vein cut down approach is LESS with More benefits.