ABSTRACT
The acceptance of long-term venous access as an integral part of the management of patients undergoing chronic hyperalimentation has become widespread over the last decade. The large increase in demand for long-term venous access devices is due in large part to the low incidence of complications and nearly constant improvements in catheter technology. Broviac et al. introduced the first dramatic improvement in long-term vascular access by changing the catheter material from polyvinyl chloride to siliconized-rubber (Silastic) in order to decrease thrombogenicity (I). Hickman et al. subsequently introduced a Silastic catheter with a larger lumen (2). In 1982 Niederhuber et al. published the first series of patients with subcutaneous ports, splitting the field of vascular access devices into two major types: external devices and implantable subcutaneous ports (3) (Fig. 1).
