What's old is new again: patients receiving hepatic arterial infusion chemotherapy

Hepatic artery infusion pump in the treatment of liver metastases

BACKGROUND

Hepatic artery infusion pump (HAIP) use in chemotherapy started in the 1960s as a way to treat liver metastases that were not amendable to locoregional therapy or surgical resection. Because of complications and limited survival benefit, the use of HAIPs fell out of favor. A resurgence has occurred in the use of these pumps, but limited information is available in the literature guiding nursing care of these patients.

OBJECTIVES

The purpose of this study was to review the literature regarding the use, procedures, and nursing care of patients with HAIPs.

METHODS

A systematic literature review was conducted to obtain a comprehensive range of publications.

FINDINGS

Database searching resulted in 511 titles and abstracts. After eliminating duplicates and nonrelevant titles, 65 remained and were read in full. Of these, 20 were excluded because they did not fit the inclusion criteria.