title: Totally implantable venous access ports: a clinical trial comparing percutaneous versus surgical technique.
abstract: Totally implantable venous access ports are valuable instruments for long-term intravenous treatment of patients with cancer, but implantation and use of these devices may be associated with complications. The aim of our study was to compare two implantation techniques in order to establish which one is better for the patient and the surgeon as regards morbidity, surgical time, tolerability, and costs. A prospective study was conducted on a series of 99 patients undergoing implantation of totally implantable venous access ports with surgical cut-down or percutaneous access from January 2000 to June 2004 at the Department of Surgical Sciences, Organ Transplantation and Advanced Technologies. Our experience shows that there are no statistically significant differences between these two techniques in terms of associated morbidity, technical failure, operative time and patient acceptance.
authors.affiliation: Department of Surgical Sciences, Organ Transplantations and Advanced Technologies - University of Catania, Italia.
authors.forename: Cristian
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Riapisarda
authors.forename: Raffaele
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Lanteri
authors.forename: Marco
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Santangelo
authors.forename: Giovanni
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Li Destri
authors.forename: Antonio
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Di Cataldo
authors.forename: Antonio
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Licata
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D002404:Catheterization / Q000295:instrumentation* / Q000379:methods*; D002408:Catheters, Indwelling / Q000009:adverse effects; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D011446:Prospective Studies