"Portacath" AND ("Emergency" OR "Sepsis" OR "Resuscitation")

Long-term access devices (VAD) in oncology patients are the elemental procedure of contemporary treatment. Apart from their indisputable benefit they are linked with an increased risk of infectious complications, ranging between simple colonisation of a device to catheter related bloodstream infections. The decision to salvage or extract the VAD in case of bloodstream infection depends on patient's clinical state, localisation of infection (site of insertion, catheter or pocket), casual agent and complications (e...

Percutaneous intravenous devices are an essential component of modern health care. Although they are generally associated with a low incidence of vascular access device-related sepsis, the events following a vascular catheter-related sepsis can be clinically significant and difficult to treat. Here we report a case of Portacath-related sepsis with Serratia marcescens resulting in cerebral and pulmonary emboli, which in our knowledge, has not been reported before. Definitive identification and prolonged antimicrobial treatment according to culture sensitivities can lead to resolution of septic and pulmonary emboli...

Superior vena cava (SVC) syndrome often presents with slowly progressive symptoms worsening over weeks or may cause abrupt symptoms and constitute a true medical emergency. Percutaneous intervention is the treatment of choice. We report a case of SVC stenting in a middle-aged woman with SVC obstruction secondary to portacath insertion for chemotherapy.

Central venous catheters (CVCs) for patients with AIDS are at risk of a number of complications including bacterial infections. A 6-year retrospective review was undertaken of the records of the 33 patients (42% infected by injection drug use (IDU)) who received intravenous therapy both in hospital and at home via CVCs. Twenty-eight per cent of 53 insertions suffered a complication, the commonest of which was a pneumothorax (8%). The post insertion complication rate was 0.98/100 catheter days (cd). Thrombotic occlusion (0...

The use of central venous catheters in patients suffering from haematological disorders has brought enormous benefits, but has been associated with an increase in septicaemia. We have reviewed septic and other complications in 43 patients who received one of three different forms of central venous catheters (type A-Hickman, type B-Portacath, type C-Pasport) during 1991. All complications were reviewed up to 18 months following insertion. The total complication rate was 31% (0.97 per 100 catheter days), and the total sepsis complication rate was 18...

Reliable access to a central vein is increasingly important in the treatment of major acute and chronic disease. The use of an implantable central venous access device in a district general hospital is reviewed. Fifty-four PortaCaths (Kabi Pharmacia, Milton Keynes, UK) were inserted in 51 patients over a 7-year period. Most patients had haematological disease, often with neutropenia and thrombocytopenia. There were a total of 22,515 catheter days experience. Twelve catheters were removed for complications with an overall complication rate of 0...

A recent advance in semipermanent vascular access has been the development of the totally implanted Portacath atrial catheter. The outcome of 100 sequential insertions of atrial catheters, 61 of which were Hickman catheters and 39 Portacaths, has been retrospectively reviewed in order to determine differences in clinical performance between these two types. The majority (90%) of the patients were from haematology or oncology wards. The incidence of complications was 66% for Hickman catheters and 46% for Portacaths...