European journal of surgical oncology : the journal of the European Society of Surgical Oncology and the British Association of Surgical Oncology
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Totally implantable devices are increasingly being utilized for chemotherapy treatment of oncological patients. When it is impossible to implant the reservoir on the anterior wall of the thorax, or when there is an obstruction of the superior vena cava system, alternative access routes must be sought. Of these, the femoral vein is the most utilized. Few studies have been performed to analyse the results obtained from the implantation and utilization of such catheters in the femoral vein. The goal of this work was to prospectively study the results obtained from the implantation of 20 TIC in femoral veins in a large-sized cancer hospital with its own dedicated vascular clinical team. ⋯ The low rate of complications implying catheter loss in this study confirms the safety and convenience of the use of femoral TIC in patients who cannot be submitted to implantation in the superior vena cava system.