Long-term CVCs refer to:
- Tunnelled CVCs
- Port-a-caths
Long-term CVCs can remain in place for months or even years. They are used for:
- Access to the central venous system for treatments in large quantities or over a prolonged period of time, such as chemotherapy, IV fluids, medications, or blood products, and for blood sampling.
- Administration of medications that are harmful to peripheral veins, particularly chemotherapy
- Patients who have poor or inaccessible peripheral venous access
- IV administration of nutrients for patients who cannot eat food or absorb enough nutrition via tube feeding (parenteral nutrition). This may be in addition to oral or tube feeding, or it may be the only source of nutrition (total parenteral nutrition).
- Providing an access point for blood-based treatments such as haemodialysis or apheresis
- Cardiac catheterisation and transvenous cardiac pacing
