Venous access allows your physician to deliver medicine directly into your bloodstream without repeatedly puncturing your blood vessels. In venous access, a long, thin tube, called a catheter, acts as a kind of entry way into your vein. One end of the catheter is placed in a vein, usually in your arm, neck, or chest. The other end exits your body so that your physician can deliver your medicine into your vein by means of the catheter. Sometimes this delivery end may be connected to a circular device called a port under the surface of your skin.
Physicians often use needles to inject medicine into your bloodstream. This way, the medicine is carried by your bloodstream and quickly reaches the areas where your body needs it. However, with repeated punctures, the needles can damage your veins over time. If you have weak or thin veins, you may not be able to receive many needle injections. Strong medicines can also scar your veins.
If you need regular injections of medicine over a long period of time, venous access can protect your veins. For example, some cancer patients receive venous access devices to receive chemotherapy drugs. Physicians also use venous access devices to supply fluids, draw blood, and give blood transfusions. Another type of venous access is called dialysis access. Dialysis access devices help patients who have kidney problems receive hemodialysis to filter their blood as their kidneys would normally filter it if they were healthy.
One common type of venous access is an intravenous (IV) line. An IV line is placed inside a vein, often in your hand or arm, and stays in place for a relatively short period of time. Other venous access devices are designed to go deeper in your body and stay inside your body longer. For example, the catheters in some venous access devices reach from an arm vein into a larger vein near your heart where the blood flow is much more rapid.
Some venous access devices are made of special, soft materials that are less irritating to your veins and are designed to safely remain in your body for weeks or months, if necessary.
In medicine, dialysis is primarily used to provide an artificial replacement for lost kidney function due to renal failure. Dialysis may be used for very sick patients who have suddenly but temporarily, lost their kidney function or for quite stable patients who have permanently lost their kidney function. When healthy, the kidneys maintain the body's internal equilibrium of water and minerals and act like filters for the blood, removing waste. The kidneys also produce hormones that help regulate calcium metabolism, blood pressure and other blood elements. Dialysis treatments are able to correct water and mineral balance and remove waste products from the blood when the kidneys are no longer able to do so.
For more information about Venous Access, or to schedule and appointment, please contact (916) 783-8114 (in Roseville) and (916) 732-7777 (in Sacramento).
