Pre-operative Interventional Paramedical Consultation: What About the Implantable Device?

The placement of implantable ports is carried out at CHUGA by several departments, including the Interventional Radiology Department. The radiology team places between 350 and 370 implantable ports each year (figures for 2023: 361, 2024: 363). It is a short procedure (less than an hour), carried out under local anaesthetic. Following this, the interventional radiologist makes two incisions: one at the base of the neck and the second beneath the collarbone on the same side. The olive-sized housing is positioned at the incision near the collarbone. The catheter is connected to the device and then enters the neck vein at the second incision after travelling under the skin. The two incisions are closed with a few stitches, still under local anaesthetic. After the procedure, the patient gets dressed and can go home with a prescription for nursing care. Due to a lack of available medical time, there is currently no pre-procedural consultation carried out by radiologists prior to this procedure. The information is therefore provided by the oncologist during the oncology consultation, alongside a wealth of other information regarding the oncological condition. When an appointment is made through the interventional radiology department's reception, a standardised written information sheet is sent to the patient along with the appointment letters. The MERM team in the interventional radiology department observed that information regarding the procedure's conduct almost invariably had to be repeated when the patient was admitted to the procedure suite. According to an internal department assessment conducted over one month, the investigators found that of 31 patients attending for the insertion of an implantable port, 11 patients (35.5%) were highly anxious, 9 patients (29%) had received no information at all regarding the procedure, and only 8 patients (25.8%) were not anxious and felt they had been properly informed. Furthermore, 4 patients (12.9%) did not undergo the proc