Purpose: Portacaths have an important role in providing care to cancer patients who require
continuous or frequent venous access route either for their primary or supportive
care treatments. This retrospective study aimed to analyze the device-related complication
rates and compare it with the literature.
Materials and Methods: A total of 59 consecutive patients (20 males 39 females, mean age 54.07 ±16.01) presented
to interventional radiology department of Shifa International Hospital Islamabad who
were implanted with portacaths from 2017 to 2023 were included. We retrospectively
assessed all infectious and non infectious complications associated with the device
in peri and postoperative period.
Results: Most common indication for portacath insertion was malignancy (94.9%) with breast
cancer being more common. Most common site for portacath placement was Right internal
jugular vein (76.3%) followed by left internal jugular vein (23.7%). The average time
period for which portacath was placed was 13 months. No complications were seen in
67.8% of the patients. Infectious causes were seen in 25.4% of the cases, while noninfectious
complications were seen in 6.8% of the cases. Following microbiology reports it was
seen that pseudomonas aeruginosa was the common bug seen in infectious cases.
Conclusion: Although portacaths are associated with lower complications rates, infections by
different bugs are still the most common complications and should be prevented by
taking appropriate steps.
