Port-a-Cath & PICC Line Services

An implanted port (also known as a “port”) is a flexible tube that’s placed into a vein in your chest. It will make it easier for your healthcare team to:

• Give you intravenous (IV, through a vein) medication.
• Give you IV fluids.
• Take blood samples.
• Give you medications continuously for several days. Sometimes medications must be given in a vein larger than the ones in your arms. The port lets the medication go into your bloodstream through a large vein near your heart.

Peripherally inserted central catheter (PICC, or “pick” line; This catheter is for more long-term use and is placed at the inner elbow, where you would typically give blood. A local anesthetic—or numbing agent—may be used so you don’t feel pain while a nurse or other provider inserts the catheter tube into your vein with a needle. Once the needle is removed, the tube stays in the vein. The rest of the catheter is on the outside of the body. The PICC may be left in for weeks to months.