Port-a-caths in cancer patients.

We report on 91 patients with cancer who underwent the insertion of 89 venous and 4 hepatic arterial, implanted vascular ports (port-a-caths) for periods of up to 33 months (total 1 525 patient-months). There were 1 fatal, 9 serious and 8 minor complications in 18 patients which are described and discussed. In this series, comlplications were more common in younger patients, and infection was rare. Port-a-caths are extremely useful for vascular access, and have a low complication rate. However, the occasional occurrence of serious and even fatal complications suggests that the decision to insert a device should be judiciously weighed.