Venous Access

CHEMOTHERAPY AND VENOUS ACCESS

Patients with cancer often need chemotherapy. These drugs are given over long periods of time, and by an injection into the vein. As these drugs are meant to kill cancer cells, they can also damage normal cells and this is the main reason for side effects of chemotherapy.

One of the main problems is that if a chemotherapy is given into a small vein in the arm, that vein blocks quickly and then a new vein has to be found, which soon becomes difficult and painful for the patient. Even more importantly, if the vein leaks, the chemotherapy solutions can cause painful skin damage and wounds. A solution for this is to use “Chemoport” . A chemoport is a small metal or plastic chamber with a special silicone membrane on top. This chamber is attached to a tube and is placed under the skin, while the tube travels to a vein in the neck and is placed inside it upto the big vein near the heart in the chest. This allows easy access to the vein by puncturing the port with a special needle called a “ NON CORING NEEDLE” and the chemical gets diluted very quickly due to the high flow in the big vein, minimising damage to the vein . These devices are the best way to give chemotherapy and can be inserted under local anaesthesia without admitting the patient . All chemotherapy should be administered through central venous access devices for comfort and safety .