Variability in management of implantable ports in oncology outpatients

To describe the variability in practice regarding the management of vascular access ports in adult oncology patients at Spanish outpatient clinics and to evaluate its compliance with the recommended procedural guidelines.

Three e-mailings or three postal mail-outs were sent to all Spanish outpatient clinics, in accordance with the hospital's preference. An additional fourth postal mail-out was made to all units. In total 185 units at Spanish outpatient clinics out of a total 256 completed the survey questionnaire.

A number of variations exist in the techniques used for insertion, withdrawal of needle from vascular access ports, blood sampling and unblocking procedure. There is considerable agreement in relation to the use of a special beveled needle, the use of gloves in the access and withdrawal procedures and checking of reservoir permeability by aspirating blood. In most cases, sterile gloves are used but there is a lesser occurrence of both scrubbed hands and correct antiseptic use.

There are considerable differences in the management of the vascular access ports in terms of the recommendations published in the main international guidelines, though these are based on low level evidence. The results highlight the need for further quality studies in ports use and manipulation to lessen the variability between published recommendations and clinical practice.