In a retrospective study (1987-1997) the complications of a totally implantable venous access device (Port-A-Cath, Fa. Pharmacia, Germany) were analysed in 91 children with 99 implants. All but 2 of these children had malignant diseases. Their age ranged from 0.1 to 18.1 (median 6) years. Overall implant time was 171.2 years (62488 days), averaging 1.63 years (595 days) per device. Il complications were registered, i.e. infections (6), occlusions (4) and disconnection (1), resulting in an overall infection rate of 0.06 and a total occlusion rats of 0.04. The overall complication rate was thus 0.11, which compares favourably with other studies