Painless and Safe Subcutaneous Catheter for Injection of Various Cytokines in Patients with Hematological Disorders

Various cytokines have been used to treat patients with hematological disorders, eg, recombinant granulocyte colony-stimulating factor (G-CSF),1 recombinant granulocyte-macrophage colony-stimulating factor (GM-CSF),2 and erythropoietin (EPO) are given to patients with aplastic anemia (AA). G-CSF and GM-CSF are also used to treat neutropenia in patients with leukemia, lymphoma, and other solid tumors who receive such treatment as intensive chemotherapy.3 Interferon (IFN)-gamma is used to treat patients with chronic granulomatous disease (CGD).4 Generally these cytokines are administered either intravenously or subcutaneously. However, it is difficult to continue intravenous injection for long periods, especially in children. One of the major problems associated with the subcutaneous route is pain. Recently, teflon catheters have been used for daily painless injections of insulin by subcutaneous inplantation into the abdominal wall of diabetic patients.5