Central Venous Access Devices(CVADs)
Central Venous Access Devices (CVADs) are small plastic tubes placed, which help doctors for easy and quick access to the large veins in the thorax.
Most often used for the following purposes:
- Administration of medications – Antibiotics, chemotherapy drugs, other IV drugs
- Administration of fluids and nutritional compounds (hyperalimentation)
- Transfusion of blood products
- Multiple blood draws for diagnostic testing
Commonly used CVADs are
- Chemoport- an implanted CVAD that sits beneath the skin. This device is suitable for long-term use (more than one year). It’s frequently required for administration of chemotherapy in cancer patients.
2. PICC(Peripherally inserted central catheter ) line- is inserted into a large vein in the arm and advanced forward into the larger vein in the chest