After havin some difficulties after my last fill, I returned to my Dr. last week. He said that there had been a lot of problems will fills between July and September because the needle which goes into the port was making a good seal and all the saline would leak out! This had happened to me! I'm sorry I didn't get the brand, but he said there had been a design change (which the company initially denied) that caused them to to seal properly. I'll try to get more info, but I just wanted to let everyone know. Terri

Great...

As if we didn't have enough problems - now there are faulty needles? A whole batch of them?!?

:doh:

Do you know if this a US problem or just a statewide problem?

Lots of the most experienced docs don't even bother using the Huber needles anymore. After many thousands of fills and unfills with regular needles, there have been no port failures because of needles.

The Huber needles also are not made long enough to get through 4-6 inches worth of belly fat. They are made primarily to use with the very shallow chemo ports that are just under the skin.

I think the longest one made is 1.5 inches, not sure. My doctor uses 6 inch "spinal" needles and has no trouble. They have the normal end, not the Huber end.

I'm confused when you say "sealing" because the needles don't "seal". they go through the port membrane and into the fill reservoir. Do you mean there is a problem with the hub of the needle fitting tightly into into the syringe? Renee

The type of needle that needs to be used is a non-coring needle. This needle does not remove any of the membrane when inserted into the port. A regular (coring) needle will- and has caused ports to leak and become ruined-resulting in port replacement as that is the only solution once ruined. Yes that means surgery again. A coring needle (more common in general use) actually will remove a section of the port with its use and leave a larger hole in the membrane. A non-coring needle (in simple terms) forms a much smaller hole initially and then just pushes or stretches the hole bigger- leaving a smaller entry into the membrane that it can then seal up itself again. There are several brands of needles that can be used- the ones from Inamed are very expensive and that is why several doctors are using other brand ones-which appears to be fine as long as they are correct type of needle. Any doctor using an incorrect needle should have to pay to have the port replaced for their patients-if the usage was because of using the incorrect type of needle, and not some mismanufacturing problem. A good doctor will examine the needle prior to usage to make sure it is nice and sharp and is of the correct design prior to usage-especially in a needle sensitive port. The design differences are readily visible to someone knowing the difference in coring and non-coring needles.

T