There is indeed no scientific evidence to support the practice of regularly flushing a port system every four weeks to keep it open. Kuo et al. (1) recommend critical reconsideration of this practice in view of the findings of their retrospective study. These authors point out the high cost of flushing a catheter every four weeks, as well as the considerable additional effort that this demands from the patient. There was no statistically significant change in the complication rate when the interval was prolonged. In view of the sparse data on the subject, the manufacturer’s recommendations were also taken into account in the decision whether to flush, and how often.
There have not yet been any reports about the extent to which regular flushing might cause infection. In view of the absence of evidence from scientific studies on this topic, the expert opinion expressed here ought to be taken into account alongside the data that are currently available.
Footnotes
Conflict of interest statement
The authors of the above letter and of the reply to it state that they have no conflict of interest as defined by the International Committee of Medical Journal Editors.
References
- 1.Kuo YS, et al. How often should a Port-A-Cath be flushed? Cancer Investigation. 2005;23:582–585. doi: 10.1080/07357900500276923. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]