title: Subcutaneous venous reservoir implant: our experience in 1200 cases.
abstract: We present our experience in subcutaneous venous reservoir (SVR) implanting, laying emphasis on the surgical technique, the protocol followed for assessing difficulty, implant care and per- and post-implant complications and their management. Between March 1996 and December 2002 we installed 1200 SVRs on an outpatient basis, with subsequent result follow-up. The reservoir was successfully installed by the standard procedure in 99.33% of cases (1194), while in the remaining six patients (0.67%) the participation of the Intervention Radiology Department was required for correct implantation. Results were excellent with a morbidity of 3.3% and we had to single out two cases of immediate infection (0.16%), nine of tardive infection (over three months); twelve cases of pneumothorax (1%); seven episodes of venous thrombosis (0.58%) and four cases of catheter migration (0.3%). SVR implanting is possible on an outpatient basis but requires strict measures of asepsis and an experienced team and personnel responsible for its handling and maintenance, although there are a small number of complications inherent in the patient's general state.
authors.affiliation: Department of Surgery, 12 de Octubre University Hospital, Madrid, Spain. jgarciborda@yahoo.es
authors.forename: F J
authors.initials: FJ
authors.lastname: García Borda
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Ramos Martínez
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Lomas Espadas
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Hidalgo Pascual
mesh_terms: D002405:Catheterization, Central Venous / Q000009:adverse effects / Q000379:methods*; D002408:Catheters, Indwelling; D006801:Humans