ABSTRACT
This chapter reviews the history of port placement, complications associated with administration of intraperitoneal (IP) chemotherapy, and offers techniques for placement to prevent complications. The concept of IP chemotherapy first arose in the 1960s, with the initial description of the pharmacokinetics and pharmacodynamic principles provided by Dr. Robert Dedrick and colleagues at the National Institutes of Health. Patients requiring radical surgery, or having a more complicated postoperative course, is expected to have a more difficult time with any chemotherapy given, including IP therapy. Infections have been seen more commonly when there is a midline wound breakdown or a left colon resection. A fever in an IP chemotherapy patient can be evaluated by irrigating and aspirating saline from the port to send to microbiology for evidence of peritoneal or catheter infection. Cellulitis surrounding an IP port is rarely treated with antibiotics alone, the port and catheter are generally removed.
