The technical success and complications were especially focused on and evaluated the need for fixation of a port under fluoroscopic guidance placement of the totally implantable central venous access ports for long term central venous access.

Two hundred eighty nine consecutive patients (170 men, 119 women, mean age: 52-year-old) who underwent venous port implantation for the administration of chemotherapy were followed over a 1-month period. The procedures were performed in the angiographic suite by an interventional radiologist and all access was through the right jugular vein, except for the patients who had undergone a right mastectomy. The procedures were performed in the following order: 1) venous puncture, 2) making a pocket, 3) catheter tunneling, 4) port insertion, 5) catheter sizing, and 6) insertion. A port which was connected to the tunneled catheter was inserted into the minimally sized subcutaneous pocket with the aid of a small retractor. A follow-up was performed with medical records and chest radiographs. The follow-up period for evaluating the venous port ranged from 59 to 329 days (mean: 175 days)

The procedures performed to gain right jugular vein access were successful without difficulty in all cases. The 18 patients that underwent procedures to gain left jugular vein access encountered some difficulty upon insertion of a catheter into the SVC due to encountering the tortuous left brachiocephalic vein. No complications occurred during and immediately after the procedure. In one case the port chamber rotated within the subcutaneous pocket; however, no catheter migration or malfunction occurred.

If port insertion was followed by catheter insertion, the port chamber can be tightly implanted in the minimally sized pocket. This would avoid the need for fixation of the catheter to the port chamber leading into the pocket.