Chemoports Can be a Boon for Cancer Patients During Pandemic Times

The pandemic has put a renewed focus on the well-being of patients who are suffering from life-threatening ailments and diseases and need to seek their regular course of treatment at hospitals. In such circumstances, cancer patients are a highly vulnerable patient group. Physicians concerned about their cancer patients’ well-being amidst frequent hospitals visits for their therapy sessions, may increasingly recommend Chemoports to them to minimise hospital visits that could put their health at added risk.

Dr. Mandar Nadkarni, Professor and Head, Breast Oncology, Kokilaben Dhirubhai Ambani Hospital & Medical Research Institute, Mumbai

Committed to patient safety, BD-India through its initiative ‘PortShala‘, a medical education program for healthcare professionals has aimed to create awareness on Chemoports that may provide advantages to patients’ lifestyle and comfort, as well as the long-term health of the veins of hands and arms. PortShala completes a successful one year of its educational initiatives since its inception on 4^th February, World Cancer Day, last year.

Highlighting the benefits of Chemoports, Dr. Mandar Nadkarni, Professor and Head, Breast Oncology, Kokilaben Dhirubhai Ambani Hospital & Medical Research Institute, Mumbai,says, “Cancer patients often go through intravenous treatment to receive chemotherapy, medications and blood transfusions. Unfortunately, this also results in multiple needle pricks for the patient as sometimes the vein is not easily detected. The benefit with chemo port is that it stays in place through the treatment duration and eliminates the need to find a suitable vein at each chemo session. In the current sensitive environment where patients may hesitate to visit hospitals, the Chemoport can be beneficial as patients can continue seeking therapy from home for extended period as Chemoports require flushing and maintenance only once in four weeks as compared to other acute vascular access devices.”

Some chemotherapy medications can only be given through a port as some patients have veins that are very difficult to access. This makes a port a reliable option for the administration of therapy for patients with specific medical needs. Ports have a lower risk of infection over time than IVs or other devices that stick out through the skin. When an IV is used, medications are more likely to leak (extravagate) into the tissues surrounding patients’ hand or arm. Since many chemotherapy medications are caustic to tissue, a port can reduce the risk of inflammation related to these medications leakage.

Pavan Mocherla, Managing Director-BD-India/South Asia said,“Advanced medical technologies today have enabled better care for cancer patients. At BD, patient safety has been at the core of all our initiatives. Our educational outreach program PortShala is built specifically to generate awareness around Cancer and devices such as Chemoports which are used to deliver chemotherapy to patients. Today, India’s healthcare ecosystem is constantly evolving and efforts are being made to tackle cancer at every level to support patients with the best treatment solutions.”

Patients and physicians can seek mutual benefit from Chemoports as they are multi-functional and can also be used for delivering fluids and transfusions, collecting blood samples for lab testing and injecting dye for PET and CT scans.

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