Acta Clinica Croatica · Published 2025-01-01 · DOI 10.20471/acc.2025.64.03.18
Totally implantable venous access ports (TIVAPs) are central venous devices for long-term intravenous treatment, most commonly used in oncology patients. Despite many benefits, their usage can be associated with severe complications. The purpose of this study was to determine early and late complications of TIVAPs insertion. Methods: We performed a single-center retrospective study in University Hospital Merkur and enrolled 90 hematology and 7 oncology patients who had TIVAPs inserted in the period between November 2013 and May 2018. The procedure of insertion was performed by a cardiologist under fluoroscopy through the right subclavian vein in local anesthesia. Our main focus was on early and late complications of TIVAPs insertion. Early complications occurred in the first 30 days of insertion and late complications beyond 30 days after insertion. Results: Complications of TIVAPs insertion occurred in 26 patients (26.8 %); all of them were hematology patients. Early complications were found in 8 (8.2%) patients and late complications in 18 (18.5%) patients. Pneumothorax as an early complication was found in 2 (2.1%) patients. Early infections were found in 5 (5.1%) patients and all were classified as bloodstream infections. One (1.03%) patient exhibited wound healing problems and required TIVAP extraction. Late complications were found in 18 (18.5%) patients: one (1.03%) port pocket infection, 16 (16.5%) bloodstream infections and one (1.03%) late catheter related venous thrombosis (1.03%). Conclusion: The implantation and use of TIVAPs is a valuable method in the treatment of oncology and hematology patients. However, in view of the number of TIVAPs complications observed in our study, we can conclude that hematology patients are at a higher risk for developing TIVAPs-related late infections.
Abstract from DOAJ. Public domain (CC0 1.0).
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