title: [Psychological impact of presence of an implantable catheter in patients with serious illnesses].
abstract: Implantation of an infusion device propels the patient into the world of serious disease, uncertainty, and burdensome treatments. A repository for anxiety and fear, the device will remain a foreign body perceived as beneficial at some times and threatening at others, and as a source of distress. Although it provides greater comfort, self-sufficiency, and freedom from treatment-related constraints, it modifies or even disrupts the relationship with health care providers, causing the patient to feel ensnared in the meshes of submission to and dependency on disease and the medical profession. To find some measure of relief from anxiety and to cushion the blow of this new reality, the patient uses coping mechanisms that are often surprisingly complex. The physicians and other health care professionals who provide support to their patients, remaining close to their psychological reality, are faced with the difficult task of reconciling the psychological effects of perfusion device implantation with imperative therapeutic needs.
authors.affiliation: Unité Mobile de Soins Palliatifs, Hôpital Cochin, Paris, France.
authors.forename: L
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Zivkovic
mesh_terms: D001007:Anxiety; D002908:Chronic Disease; D005239:Fear; D006801:Humans; D015918:Infusion Pumps, Implantable / Q000523:psychology*