What is implantable venous port?

Also known as: central venous access device.

Typically when medicines, nutrients or blood/blood products are required to be administered intravenously frequently, it would require repeated sometimes painful needle insertions into a vein.

An implantable venous port (about the size of a 25c coin) is a semi-permanent intravenous (IV) line that’s left under the skin consisting of the port which is a round piece of metal with a soft silicone top and a thin tube (catheter) tunneled under the skin which connects the port to a large vein near the heart.

When blood needs to be drawn or medications be given, the skin over the port is numbed with a local anesthetic and a needle can then access your child’s vein through the skin, painlessly.

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Reviewed by: Jack Wolfsdorf, MD, FAAP

This page was last updated on: 1/29/2019 3:21:13 PM