Effectiveness Of Antibiotic Prophylaxis In Totally Implantable Venous Access Port Placement

Purpose To evaluate the effectiveness of pre-procedural single-dose IV antibiotics during port placement in preventing procedure-related infections, and to identify clinical and technical contributing factors. Material and methods This was a single-institution, IRB-approved study evaluating short-term (30-day) infection outcomes after the placement of a chest port. Correlation between infection rate and clinical factors, including hematologic vs. non-hematological malignancy, in-patient vs. outpatient status, and administration of prophylactic pre-procedural IV antibiotics was investigated. Additionally, correlation between infection rate and technical factor such as device type (single vs. double lumen) was evaluated. Chi-squared and Fisher exact tests were used for statistical analysis where applicable. Results Overall, 5,967 ports were placed between 2005 and 2016. Of the 3,978 (67%) patients who received prophylactic antibiotics, 94% (3,757/3,978) received cefazolin. Port removal due to infection concern was performed in 48 patients, with no statistically significant difference in the rate of infection between those who received antibiotics (0.85%, 34/3,978) vs. those who did not (0.70%, 14/1,989; p=0.5387). There was a statistically significant higher rate of infection in patients who had their port placed as an inpatient (p Conclusion Single dose of pre-procedural antibiotics does not appear to prevent short-term procedure-related infections