port-a-cath
Meaning of port-a-cath: Because the entire device sits beneath the skin, a port-a-cath requires only a needle stick rather than a visible external tube between uses.
Definition of port-a-cath
A port-a-cath is an implanted device that provides repeated access to a vein for withdrawing blood or infusing medications, fluids, or nutrition without requiring a new needle stick into a vein each time. The device consists of a small reservoir, or port, placed beneath the skin, usually in the chest, connected to a thin, flexible tube, called a catheter, that extends into a large vein.
To use a port-a-cath, a specially designed needle is inserted through the skin into the port's reservoir, and because the entire device sits beneath the skin, there is no external tube protruding from the body between uses, unlike some other long term intravenous access devices.
A port-a-cath is generally used when frequent or prolonged intravenous access is anticipated, such as during chemotherapy, and it can typically remain in place for an extended period, remaining usable for repeated treatments over months or longer before it needs to be removed.
Also known as
Used in a sentence
Chemotherapy was administered through the patient's port-a-cath rather than through a new intravenous line.
Good to know
Because a port-a-cath lies entirely beneath the skin, it requires a needle stick to access, distinguishing it from other long term catheters that leave a tube outside the body at all times.