Chemo Port introduced at GRH in Madurai

MADURAI

Chemo Port, a novel cancer treatment facility for a swift and pain-free chemotherapy has been introduced at Government Rajaji Hospital in Madurai.

According to a press release issued by Dean A. Rathinavel, administering chemotherapy through peripheral veins in the forearm or the hand is usually painful. Repeated cannulation of a peripheral vein during each cycle of chemotherapy was even more painful and after a few cycles veins got blocked due to inflammation, he said.

Under such circumstances, identifying a peripheral vein eligible for cannulation would be challenging. Sometimes, inadvertent spillage of chemotherapy drugs after a difficult cannulation could be catastrophic resulting in the damage of surrounding soft tissues and skin and sometimes even limb loss.

These issues could be overcome by the advanced drug administration device ‘Chemo Port’, which would help patients receive a swift and pain-free chemotherapy. It enabled doctors to treat a larger number of patients with less man power and facilitates ‘day care chemotherapy’, he said.

He said blood cancer, certain types of bone and breast cancers, etc., might require chemotherapy for a year or more. Chemo Port could be retained for around three years. Chemo Port was a boon to cancer patients. The Department of Surgical Oncology conducted a workshop on Chemo Port insertion recently and five cancer patients were implanted with the novel device. The procedure was approved by the Chief Minister’s Comprehensive Health Insurance Scheme, he added.