use of cadd pump and port a cath?

[juliegirl06]

need documentation that it is safe to use morphine cadd pump in port. we have done before no problems but pt wants documentation as she is scared her port will clot off. have reassured her use before with no problems. sub q sites not lasting and she is knotting up pretty bad and pain not controlled due to non absorption. concentration is 10mg/ml pt getting 6mg/hr with 6mg bolus q15 prn. any resources that can be referred?

[doodlemom]

need documentation that it is safe to use morphine cadd pump in port. we have done before no problems but pt wants documentation as she is scared her port will clot off. have reassured her use before with no problems. sub q sites not lasting and she is knotting up pretty bad and pain not controlled due to non absorption. concentration is 10mg/ml pt getting 6mg/hr with 6mg bolus q15 prn. any resources that can be referred?

I've not had it happen but it is possible for it to clot off with that low of a rate. You may want to flush it a couple of times per day with 10-20 ml of saline. I know that when I worked in the hospital, we had to run them on 10 ml/hr to keep them open. You could decrease the concentration to 1:1 and that would take care of the problem, but then you'd be dealing with changing the bag more frequently.