If their medical team recommends it, many people who get chemotherapy choose to have a port inserted. The catheter is inserted fully beneath the skin. It connects to a small plastic or metal disc or port. The port is also inserted beneath the skin. You might notice or feel a little lump on the port's side. There are no lines or catheters that exit your body.
To access the port and the venous access line, a specialised needle is introduced through your skin into the port, and this gives access to any intravenous therapy needed. When removing the needle, a specialised solution to keep your chemotherapy access port open will be introduced. Once the chemotherapy port is not needed anymore, it can be left in place for later use or removed with a small surgical procedure.
Where is the chemotherapy port implanted?
A chemo port is usually inserted under the skin in the middle of the upper chest near a prominent vein. This is a viable alternative to an intravenous (IV) catheter inserted into a vein in the arm or hand (a suitable IV site can sometimes be challenging to find). A port can provide a safer and more efficient medicine delivery mechanism than an IV because it is easily accessible by the patient's care team. A port will leave a noticeable, quarter-sized "bump" under the skin, but it can be readily hidden with typical clothing.
The benefit of a chemotherapy port over an IV Catheter:
In comparison to an IV catheter, a port can give various significant benefits in addition to the delivery of chemotherapy medications:
- A sterile approach is used to prepare a port site, ensuring that all surfaces are devoid of germs and therefore considerably reducing the chance of infection (an IV site is ready with a clean but nonsterile technique).
- A port can also give fluids and transfusions, take blood for laboratory testing, and inject dye for PET and CT scans.
- A port lowers the chance of drugs coming into contact with subcutaneous tissue and causing irritation.
- A port can be used to deliver therapies over several days.