[ACKrissy]

Okay, I have a few questions for you all about mediports. I am a student, and I had a pt a few days ago that had ulcerative colitis and was in the hospital b/c she had a laparoscopic abdominal colectomy. I noticed she had a mediport, and I asked her about it, but she was so distraught about her surgery and ileostomy that she didn’t say much about it. Does anyone have any idea what it was for? Would it be for pain or for her antibiotics (Remicade) she used to take for the ulcerative colitis? I was so busy that I forgot to ask the nurse later on…so now I am wondering. Thanks!!

[TRINI_RN]

From the Roswell Park Cancer institute:

"A Mediport is a device that is implanted under your skin so that medications may be delivered directly into your blood system. The Mediport® is designed for safe, long-term use in your body. It can stay in place permanently if necessary. When not in use, the only care a port requires is flushing once a month with a solution of heparin and saline to prevent blood clots from forming inside the line and causing a blockage.

You may also hear the terms Port-A-Cath®, Infuse-A-Port®, or other similar terms, these are other products that serve similar functions.

The port can be used to deliver medication (arterial port) or draw a blood sample (venous port) by inserting a special needle into the port. The needle connects to the catheter inside the port; the other end of the catheter is located inside a fairly large blood vessel."


I've had many patients with mediports. Some with IV fluids running and some without, so she could have had it before this particular admission. If she was on long term antibiotic therapy that's probably why she had it. I hope that helps.

[Daytonite]

Implanted ports are often put in for chemotherapy of some type. There are some weblinks to information about Port-a-Caths (another brand of implanted port) on this sticky thread:

• http://allnurses.com/forums/f205/any-good-iv-therapy-nursing-procedure-web-sites-127657.html - Any Good IV Therapy or Nursing Procedure Web Sites (in Nursing Student Assistant Forum) - see post #6

[ACKrissy]

Okay, thanks for your help!