Prolonged venous access in cancer patients.

One hundred and forty-eight Hickman-Broviac (HB) catheters and 299 Port-a-Cath R (PAC) were inserted over the past 5 years at the Institut Jules Bordet. The HB catheter was associated with a complication rate of 4.1/1000 days of access, of which infections were the most common, leading to catheter removal in 22% of patients. The average PAC remained in situ for 232.9 (range 1-1298) days; the complication rate was only 0.45/1000 days of access. The Hickman-Broviac catheter and the totally implanted port Port-a-Cath achieve safe and reliable venous access in cancer patients.