Patient-Reported Usefulness of Peripherally Inserted Central Venous Catheters in Terminally Ill Cancer Patients

Abstract

PICCs were safely inserted in about 90% of terminally ill cancer patients within about 20 minutes. Although 30% of the patients experienced transient mild procedure-related distress, more than 90% of the patients felt that the parenteral route was more comfortable and convenient after the procedure. PICCs may provide a safe, comfortable, and convenient alternative for terminally ill cancer patients, if placement of the PICC is individualized to the patient situation and after alternatives are considered. Further studies are needed to compare the superiority of the PICC and traditional subcutaneous route to clarify what types of patients are the most suitable for each procedure.

Safety and Efficacy of Peripherally Inserted Central Catheters in Terminally Ill Cancer Patients: Single Institute Experience

“…These high rates of PICC self-removal can be explained by delirium, which develops in up to 80∼90% in terminally ill cancer patients (10). A Previous report that studied PICC in terminally ill cancer patients showed 10% of PICC self-removal, a value similar to that in our study (11). However, there was no serious problem after self-removal except manageable trivial bleeding.…”

“…However, only limited data exist regarding the safety and efficacy of PICC in terminally ill cancer patient with only 1 published study worldwide (11). In Korean, thus far, only two reports have described PICC in a general oncology setting (9,12), and no study has reported in a homogeneous cohort of terminally ill cancer patients.…”

Catéter central de acceso periférico en paciente pediátrico con cáncer: estudio de caso

“…Este hallazgo es congruente a lo reportado por Yamada et al (2010), donde se muestra que el confort relacionado con la utilidad del PICC es alto (40).…”

“…Por otra parte, se ha observado que la inserción del PICC es un evento poco estresante para el paciente y que por el contrario, existen buenos niveles de confort asociados con la utilidad del PICC (12). Frente a esto, en la experiencia práctica en el INC, se ha evidenciado que los pacientes pediátricos no candidatos a catéter implantable y sus cuidadores, han manifestado altos niveles de estrés, dolor y ansiedad relacionados con los continuos pinchazos a los que son sometidos para la administración de quimioterapia, líquidos, transfusiones y toma de laboratorios, lo que en varias oportunidades los ha cuestionado acerca de continuar o no con el tratamiento.…”

Femoral Tunneled Central Venous Catheters for Terminally Ill Patients with Cancer

“…Currently, peripherally inserted central venous catheters (PICCs) are frequently used for patients with advanced cancer, mainly to maintain chemotherapy, nutritional therapy, and/or for symptom control. 7,8 The subclavian or jugular venous access route and PICC may be difficult or contraindicated in some clinical situations (in patients with mediastinal masses, SVC thrombosis, or massive cutaneous metastases). In addition, subclavian or jugular vein catheterization may involve life-threatening procedure-related complications (pneumothorax, hemothorax, and arterial puncture) in terminally ill patients with cancer.…”