Has anyone experienced leaking chemo in the arm tissue?

Hi @jodimj! If you had chemo leaking under your skin during treatment that can be a dangerous situation and should have been addressed at the time. There are strict protocols in place if a leak should happen. Chemo outside of the veins can cause some serious tissue damage. Putting pressure on it is not one of the treatments as this can force the solution into the tissue.

I’ve have several picc lines and a central port. I did have one picc line leak around the tissue, creating a large hematoma, where it was inserted. The vein was leaking a little. But it was thankfully not leaking IV fluid. The nurse did apply pressure to help stem the swelling after it was determined it was not a chemo leak. I didn’t have any burning. There was a lot of concern initially until it was determined that there was no saline or chemo leaking.

You really should have this looked at by your doctor! Do you have a port? Does the tissue look black around the leaky area?

Hi, no I don’t have a port, it was final of 6 treatments. The nurse just told me to apply pressure with a gauze, then through in the garbage. Didn’t want me to wash it at the sink , but I did. It’s been three weeks, no serious visual signs, just sore , some swelling n feels like an acid burn and seems to be traveling a bit. Family Dr. just said it happens sometimes. I explained that I thought more should be done. Not sure if too much time has passed, and it’s effects on my health. Got anemia, tired a lot and not sure what’s causing what. Greatful for your input.

One thing you can do to see if the area is spreading is to make little dots around it or ‘ring’ it with a magic marker. Then keep an eye out for any changes. Or is this the burning sensation that feels like it’s spreading?

You were wise to speak with your family doctor but I don’t know how familar they are with chemo burns. You may want to talk with your oncologist or their nurse practitioner especially if this isn’t feeling like it’s improving. Maybe try some ice packs to see if that helps the swelling?

Most chemotherapy treatments can make you feel tired as the blood count numbers generally drop during mid cycle. You’ve gone through a lot with your cancer treatments so it can take time to heal and recover. For me it took longer to recover after each subsequent cycle. When will you have your next labs?

On my last round of chemo, my vein collapsed and the chemo leaked into my arm.. this was Jan 9th, my arm is still numb and pain in my fingers. Had an MRI and ultrasound, showed no clots. Has this happened to anyone else and if so, how long before the numbness goes away? Had to go to the ER one time, they said it was basically a chemical burn.

@reginacrick, what a scary and painful experience for you. I moved your post about your chemo leak experience to this existing discussion:
- Has anyone experienced leaking chemo in the arm tissue?
https://connect.mayoclinic.org/discussion/has-anyone-experienced-leaking-chemo-in-the-arm-tissue/
I did this so you can click the link to read previous posts and to connect with members like @jodimj and@loribmt.

Did your oncologist give you any idea how long the pain and numbness will last? What helps ease the pain? Does massaging or pressure help or make it worse?

He just said it would take awhile to heal, seems to not be too worried about it.. told me to use heating pad and ice packs.. I did therapy for awhile, now I do it at home.. It just seems to be taking forever for the numbness to go away.. massaging helps and cbd cream.. it’s not unbearable anymore, just hope it eventually gets back to normal.. thanks !

Yes,
I had chemo leak into my arm. I noticed the swelling so it probably didn't go for too long. But I had a terrible burn from the inside out. They didn't seem to have any treatment except if tissue were to die, dermatologists could dig it out. So they just monitored it for several weeks. It resolved, probably within about 2 months. I gather, from my experience at least, that there is not much to be done for it once it happens. I wish you a complete healing with this.

That’s exactly what the ER doctor told me, it’s pretty much a chemical burn.. it was the worst pain ever, it took about two months for the skin to peel off.. the problem I’m still having is numbness on the top of my arm and tightness when I try to make a fist.. my oncologist prescribed antibiotics and prednisone and doesn’t seem too worried about it… this happened January 9th so I’m hoping it’s not going to be like this too much longer..

I’d suggest you ask about hand therapy or occupational therapy. It’s possible the medial nerve was involved in the burn. If your ring finger and pinkie finger are also not making a fist, then the ulnar nerve may be involved.
One thing therapy can help with is preventing scar tissue from developing as your arm heals. I do not know enough about chemo burns to know whether this will be a problem, but I’d ask.
Frankly, I would write down as much as you remember of the day of the chemo infusion that leaked. Such as, was the entire infusion completed before they noticed there was a leak? Or how long into the session did it happen? Did they flush the area, vein included, with a saline solution?
How many chemo treatments were prior to this - was putting in a port discussed to prevent this from happening (they not have been able to prevent it, but that is one reason ports are used).