Venous Access Salvage Techniques

For patients who need long-term central venous access but who have developed obstruction of the usual central veins, “salvage” access techniques offer successful alternatives. These techniques include translumbar inferior vena cava access, transhepatic inferior vena cava access, catheterization of small venous collaterals, and recanalization of occluded veins. Inferior vena cava access techniques allow a range of devices to be placed, including ports, infusion catheters, and hemodialysis catheters. Collateral vessels may be too small to allow for large-caliber devices, such as hemodialysis catheters. Success rates for these access techniques are high and complications are infrequent. These access routes are in general quite durable. Adults and children can be treated. Once placed, devices are managed and used as they would be for any routinely placed venous access device.