Anyone have experience with Denver shunt to treat ascites?
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Thank you Mary. Yes, I think it is not used too often – just in certain circumstances. I was able to find 2 patient stories on the company web-site. But, or course, those will be only positive. (link below)
I will post on here about how it goes so that anyone looking at this option in the future might be able to benefit from his experience. He is scheduled to have the Denver shunt placed mid-Jan.
Warm Regards,
-Margaret
Hi Mkearins,
I was hoping someone in our community would write in regarding experience with a Denver shunt. From what I could discern looking around myself, Denver shunts are not a new method and are also used for patients with other cancers. I could not find any postings on our board on this topic, however. There seem to be a lot of medical journals out there discussing this approach to managing ascites, but I did not see much describing experiences from a patient perspective.
I hope your husband’s medical providers are successful in bringing the ascites under control.
Take care, regards, Mary
Dear Friends,
I am writing to see if any patients or their caregivers out there have any direct experience with Denver shunt to manage large volume ascites.If so, please post your experience: was the placement painful? Did it bother you for sleeping? How long before it got clogged? Problems with getting infected?
Background: 6 years ago, when he was 49 yo! my husband was diagnosed (Nov2015) with klatskin tumor – Extrahepatic CC. Curative surgery at Mayo Rochester gave him 4 years cancer free. He relapsed 2 years ago right at start of pandemic. 6 weeks radiation plus 1 year of Keytruda. The Keytruda seemed to halt his cancer, but did not eliminate the disease. Unfortunately, he has been dealing with large volume ascites. He has somehow tolerated paracentesis twice per week where they remove 4L each time. So yes, 8+ litres weekly. He is in surprisingly good shape considering what he has been through. He was losing weight at first, but his weight has been stable for at least 9 months. He is comfortable for a day or two after being drained, but becomes distressed as he fills back up. On days when he is comfortable he can walk 1 mile.
FYI: Denver shunt (peritoneovenous shunt) is internal (no drain sticking out of body). Tube in abdomen runs under skin (crosses over rib cage) goes up to above heart and is connected to superior vena cava so that ascites gets dumped back into circulatory system.
He is looking at 2 options at this point: 1) Plurex catheter so he can drain daily at home. 2) Denver shunt.
Thank you for any information you may have for us.
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