Implantable Central Venous Port: Comparison between Interventional Radiological Procedure and Surgical Procedure

Kim, Yong Hun; Shin, Byung Suck; Ahn, Moonsang

Abstract

PURPOSE
We evaluated the results and complications of implantable port placement between the interventional radiological procedure and the surgical procedure. METHODS: From April 2001 to December 2003, 151 implantable ports were placed in 135 patients by an interventional radiologist and 191 ports were placed in 185 patients by a surgeon. RESULTS: The implantable port was successfully placed in all cases. The duration of catheterization was 219.8 days for the interventional radiological procedure and 203.8 days for the surgical procedure. 139 patients underwent port placement via the internal. jugular vein using the peel-away sheath by the interventional radiologist and 163 patients had their ports placed via the external jugular vein cut-down method by the surgeon. Early complications that occurred were pulmonary air embolism (1 case) and hematoma (1 case) for the radiological procedure and catheter malposition (1 case) for the surgical procedure. Late complications that occurred were infection (24 cases), catheter migration or occlusion (6 cases), catheter-related fever (4 cases) for the radiological procedure and infection (7 cases), migration (3 cases), central vein thrombosis (1 case), catheter-related fever (2 cases) for the surgical procedure. CONCLUSION: The safety of the surgical central venous port placement was high and the complication rate was low. In comparison with the interventional radiological procedure, the surgical procedure may be considered as a potentially useful primary procedure for implantable central venous port placement.