Morbidity of implantation of a port-a-cath: Monocentric study conducted at the Salah Azaiez institute Tunis.

INTRODUCTION

Port-A-cath (PAC), sinceits introduction in 1982, has seenrapid expansion in its use. However, its placement and use are not withoutrisk, as evidenced by the associated complication rate, which ranges from 10 to 38% in variousseries. Moreover, few Tunisianstudies have investigated ports and their complications. The aim of ourstudywas to evaluate the complications associatedwiththisdevice, identifyriskfactors for complications, and gather patient satisfaction.

METHODS

Weconducted an observational, descriptive, and analyticalstudy, involving 112 patients whounderwent PAC implantation at the Salah Azaiez Institut (SAI) betweenFebruary and April 2021. These patients werethenfollowed up at day 0, 3 months, 9 months, and 15 months post-implantation.

RESULTS

All our port placement procedureswereperformedusing the percutaneousmethodguided by anatomicallandmarks. The internaljugularveinwasusedin 98.2% of ourprocedures. Over the 16-month follow-up, 17 complications wereidentified, resulting in an incidence rate of 15%. Most complications (59%) occurredintraoperatively, corresponding to the formation of an intraoperativehematoma, graded Clavien-Dindo I. The main risk factor for complication wasseveralvenouspuncturesgreaterthantwo. Introducingultrasound guidance during placement reduces the complication rate. Regarding patient satisfaction withtheir care at SAI, only 8% reportedbeing "unsatisfied". The reasonsgiven for this dissatisfaction weremainlyrelated to organizationalfactorsinherent to SAI.

CONCLUSION

PAC placement is a safeprocedurewith a low rate of complications. However, implementing specific measures could reduce its morbidity.