[Cephalic vein access for implantable venous access devices. Technique and long-term follow-up]

To evaluate 1) the advantages and drawbacks of the cephalic vein access for totally implantable venous access devices (TIVAD); 2) the complications of such devices at long-term follow-up.

A retrospective study of a series of 107 cephalic vein accesses attempted on 105 patients from January 1997 to December 2001, in our department. They were 87 men and 18 women, aged from 25 to 85 years (mean: 59). The authors evaluated in each case the surgical technique, the preoperative incidents, the side of surgery, and the short-term and long-term complications. The total follow-up reached 41 284 days.

The cephalic vein access attempt failed in 12 cases (11%). These failures were due to intravenous blockade of the flexible catheter or to misroutine of the catheter in 5 cases and to a too thin vein in 7 cases. There was no statistically significant difference between the right and left sides. There was no technique-related complication. There were 18 postoperative complications (19%) out of the 95 devices that were implanted: 6 venous thrombosis, 7 infections, 4 catheter disconnections including 3 intra-cardiac migrations, 1 catheter occlusion. In 12 of these cases, the whole device had to be withdrawn. In the whole series, the devices were withdrawn at mean of 435 days after implantation.

The use of a TIVAD is necessary when a chemotherapy must be delivered for treatment of a cancer. Cephalic vein access appears to be easy, quick and relatively safe. Postoperatively, serious complications can be encountered like with any type of TIVAD. These complications must be well-known if one wants to manage them well.