Complications of implanted port catheters and peripherally inserted central catheters in chemotherapy-treated cancer...

One of the most significant advancements in nursing technology for cancer patients has been the development of implantable port catheters and peripherally inserted central venous catheters. They create an essential, dependable route for subjects to receive chemotherapy, long-term infusions and nutritional care, and provide a site for regular blood draws.

We performed a meta-analysis to evaluate the complications of implanted port catheters and peripherally inserted central catheters in chemotherapy-treated cancer patients.

A systematic literature search up to April 2022 was performed and a total of 11,801 articles have been retrieved. Of these, 5017 concerned peripherally inserted central catheters and 6784 implanted port catheters to administer chemotherapy. Odds ratios (ORs) and mean differences (MDs) with 95% confidence intervals (95% CIs) were calculated to assess the complications of implanted port catheters and peripherally inserted central catheters in chemotherapy-treated cancer patients using dichotomous and contentious methods with randomor fixed-effects models.

Peripherally inserted central catheters had significantly higher incidence of occlusion complications (OR: 5.43, 95% CI: 3.46-8.52, p < 0.001), longer durations of local infection (OR: 2.94, 95% CI: 2.17-4.00, p < 0.001), higher incidence of catheter-related infection (OR: 2.13, 95% CI: 1.19-3.83, p = 0.01), higher rate of malposition (OR: 6.46, 95% CI: 2.93-14.27, p < 0.001), higher rates of catheter-related thrombosis (OR: 2.71, 95% CI: 1.90-3.87, p < 0.001), higher incidence of phlebitis complications (OR: 6.67, 95% CI: 2.94-15.11, p < 0.001), higher incidence of accidental removal (OR: 3.38, 95% CI: 1.97-5.81, p < 0.001), and a shorter catheter lifespan (MD: -233.16, 95% CI: -449.52--16.80, p = 0.03) in subjects undergoing chemotherapy compared to those in whom implanted port catheters were used.

Implantable port catheter has advantages over peripherally inserted central catheter in decreasing cancer patients' complications. The outcomes provide evidence for practitioners to select which type of central venous catheters is better for cancer chemotherapy subject.