Puncturing the port
Before piercing a port, always check that you have all the materials you need. These would be: Disposable gloves, hand disinfection, skin disinfection, sterile disposable gloves, mouthguard, hood, sterile compresses, port needle, slit compress and compress sterile, Leukoplast (plaster), two 10ml syringes filled with sterile saline solution, 3-way stopcock if necessary, sealing plug, sterile pad, dropping container and perforated cloth if necessary. In addition, the patient must be informed about what is being done and what complications may occur.In addition, the correct size of the port needle should be estimated, depending on how deep the port is under the skin.
The patient can also be asked which size is usually used. Now a hygienic hand disinfection should take place and protective clothing (mouth guard, hood) should be put on. The materials should now be prepared on a sterile surface and disposable gloves should be put on.
If blood is to be taken from the port, the materials for blood collection should also be prepared. Now the puncture site must be visited and examined for signs of infection (redness, swelling). The puncture site is then disinfected several times.
Now the examiner takes off the disposable gloves and disinfects the hands, then he puts on sterile gloves. To puncture the port, the port needle with the attached supply tube and the syringe with saline solution must first be deflated. Then the port needle is grasped with the dominant hand and the port is fixed with the non-dominant hand.
The patient should be warned before the port is inserted. Now the needle should be inserted vertically and centrally into the plastic membrane of the port and advanced to a stop. Blood is drawn from the port to check if the needle is correctly positioned.
Now the port is rinsed with saline solution. It should be possible to inject the solution without resistance. If the port can be used without problems, it is now rinsed again with saline solution and a sterile end plug or a 3-way stopcock is applied as an end cap. The port is then connected with sterile compresses and taped with a plaster.
