An adequate vascular access is of importance for the treatment of patients with cancer and complex illnesses in the intensive, perioperative or palliative care setting. Deep vein thrombosis and thrombotic occlusion are the most common complications attributed to central venous catheters in short-term and, especially, in long-term use. In this review we will focus on the risk factors, management and prevention strategies of catheter-related thrombosis and occlusion. Due to the lack of randomised controlled trials, there is still controversy about the optimal treatment of catheter-related thrombotic complications, and therapy has been widely adopted using the evidence concerning lower extremity deep vein thrombosis. Given the increasing use of central venous catheters in patients that require long-term intravenous therapy, the problem of upper extremity deep venous thrombosis can be expected to increase in the future. We provide data for establishing a more uniform strategy for preventing, diagnosing and treating catheter-related thrombotic complications.