• Haiping Xu, Rui Chen, Chaojun Jiang, Sainan You, Qiannan Zhu, Yan Li, Shuo Li, Xiaoming Zha, and Jue Wang.
• Breast Disease Department, The First Affiliated Hospital of Nanjing Medical University, Nanjing, China.
• J Vasc Access. 2020 Sep 1; 21 (5): 609-614.

PurposeTotally implantable venous access ports are widely used in chemotherapy for malignant tumors. This retrospective study investigated the safety, technical feasibility, and device-related complications of totally implantable venous access ports implanted in the upper arm.MethodsBetween May 2016 and June 2018, 570 women with early breast cancer received chemotherapy and were successfully implanted with a totally implantable venous access port in the upper arm. Device-related complications were collected and influencing factors were analyzed for major complications.ResultsOnly one case underwent premature port removal before the end of chemotherapy. Device-related complications were observed in 32 cases, including 31 late complications. The rate of complications was 0.263/1000 catheter-days. Infection and thrombosis were the most common complications, occurring in 13 and 8 cases, respectively. Other complications were catheter occlusion, catheter dislocation, arrhythmia, and so on. Patients with higher body mass index were significantly more prone to infection and those who experienced catheter-related thrombosis had longer implantation times and higher body mass indices.ConclusionImplanting totally implantable venous access ports in the upper arm is feasible and safe for patients with early breast cancer, with a low rate of complications, providing good alternative to central venous ports.

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