In 94 patients, 137 permanent Silastic central venous catheters were inserted. Of these, 53 catheters were removed because of catheter related problems. The average duration of catheter use was 12 mo. The catheter was only removed once every 31 patient months because of catheter dysfunction and once every 82 mo. because of catheter related sepsis. No patient died from catheter related septicemia. This low complication rate of catheter related complications represents an acceptable risk for those patients who will benefit from home parenteral nutrition.