Comparison of metal Versus Vialon® subcutaneous catheters in a palliative care setting

In 63 evaluable palliative care patients requiring intermittent bolus subcutaneous administration of medication, who were randomly assigned either a standard metal subcutaneous needle or a PTFE (Vialon) catheter, there was a significantly greater incidence of local reactions at the insertion site with the metal needles (9/30) compared with the PTFE catheters (2/33). Despite this, there was no significant difference between the two in functional survival. Volume of medication injected per day was the best predictor of total time that the subcutaneous lines remained in situ.