A Totally Implantable Venous Access Device (TIVAD) or so called implantable port that is no longer in use for intravenous therapy, should be removed or flushed at established intervals to promote and maintain patency. The maintenance procedure consists of a 10 ml 0.9% sodium chloride pulsatile flush. No consensus has been established regarding the optimal duration of the interval between 2 maintenance sessions. In het university hospitals Leuven the current interval is 3 months. Studies confirmed the safety and efficacy of an extended maintenance interval to once every 4 months. Many patients have relatively poor compliance with their regular port flushing procedure.~Clinicians tend to prolong the recommended interval or even to omit the maintenance procedure. Therefore in clinical practice, intervals vary widely among institutions. To the best of our knowledge, a comprehensive investigation of the risks related to catheter patency, bacterial colonization and catheter integrity, has never been performed in patients whose port is electively removed using a 3 months flushing maintenance regimen. To assess the impact of the maintenance interval, patients will be included in the study if the patient's TIVAD is not being used for regularly therapy for a total period of at least one year.~This exploratory study will focus on catheter function and colonisation, tip position and tip thrombosis, sleeve formation, removal problems and also patient experiences at elective planned TIVAD removal therapy.
A Totally Implantable Venous Access Device (TIVAD) that is no longer in use for intravenous therapy, should be flushed at established intervals to promote and maintain patency. No consensus has been established regarding the optimal duration of the interval between 2 maintenance sessions. This exploratory study will focus on catheter status under the current 3-monthly flush regimen.