Abstract:
Objective Intraperitoneal chemotherapy is increasingly being used in the treatment of gastric cancer with peritoneal metastasis, because the drug can directly act on the metastatic nodules. Repeated treatment can be administered through implanted ports, provided the ports are appropriately managed. Our study aimed to investigate the safety of peritoneal port implantation in patients with gastric cancer with peritoneal metastasis.
Methods We retrospectively reviewed the records of patients undergoing intraperitoneal port implantation for the administration of chemotherapy between June 2015 and June 2018 to investigate the causes of complications and to discuss their management and prevention.
Results Fifty-five ports were implanted in 54 patients with median usage time of 8.4 (0.8-32.0) months. Complications occurred at 13 port sites (23.6%), including obstruction (7.3%), severe pain (5.5%), infection (3.6%), reflux (3.6%), access difficulty (1.8%), and subcutaneous mass formation (1.8%). The median interval from the time of port implantation to the development of complications was 2.1 months. No factor contributing to the complications was identified (P> 0.05).
Conclusions Peritoneal port implantation to systematic chemotherapy in patients with gastric cancer with peritoneal metastasis is safe and feasible if the ports can be carefully managed.