ArticleJCO oncology practice2022
Is There a Relationship Between Frequency of Port-Care Maintenance and Related Complications in Patients With Cancer?
Article in JCO oncology practice, 2022. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 5 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
5 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it.
- Is it feasible to prolong the flushing interval for totally implantable venous access devices (TIVADs)? A systematic review and meta-analysis.International journal of clinical oncology · 2025Pooled it
- Post-Treatment Trajectories of Retained Totally Implantable Venous Access Ports After Anticancer Therapy: A Conditional Landmark Cohort Study.Current oncology (Toronto, Ont.) · 2026Article
- Barriers to continuity of outpatient infusion-port maintenance among patients with cancer: a single-center cross-sectional study in China.Frontiers in public health · 2026Observational
- Strategies to Facilitate Intravenous Access for Electroconvulsive Therapy Procedures in Pediatric and Neurodivergent Patients: A Case Series.Journal of child and adolescent psychopharmacology · 2025Article
- Correlation between increased flushing intervals and malfunction and infectious complications in fully implantable catheters during the COVID-19 pandemic.Einstein (Sao Paulo, Brazil) · 2024Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
8 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
purposeTotally implantable ports require regular maintenance to prevent port-related complications. Manufacturers recommend monthly maintenance port flushes for patients for the life of the port. Previous studies show that extending intervals between maintenance port flushes up to 16 weeks does not increase incidence of port-related complications. To date, no prospective study has been conducted to evaluate the medical safety of extending flush intervals from monthly to every 12 weeks within a heterogeneous disease cohort. Research Question: Is it feasible and medically safe to extend intervals between maintenance port flushes to every 12 weeks in patients with cancer not on active treatment? PATIENTS AND
methodsThis study enrolled oncology and hematology patients who had retained their port following completion of anticancer treatment. Clinical data were extracted for 1,059 participants. The primary end points of this study were the overall number of ports removed and incidence of port-related complications reported between cohorts 1 and 2 (flushes every 4-8 weeks), and cohort 3 (flushes every 12 weeks).
resultsData were allocated into three study cohorts on the basis of year and duration between port flushes. No difference was observed in the overall percentage of ports removed because of physician-reported complications across all cohorts (25%-30%). No change in the incidence of port-related complications including suspected infection and malfunction was observed between cohorts 1 and 2 (8%), or cohort 3 (5%).
conclusionOur findings show that extending maintenance port flush intervals to 12 weeks does not increase the incidence of port-related adverse events and is medically safe.
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Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.