In-hospital complications of percutaneous intraaortic balloon counterpulsation

Complications related to intraaortic balloon counterpulsation pumping (IABP) remain a problem despite the development of small caliber balloon catheter shafts and introducer sheaths. The authors report their experience in counterpulsation-related complications of 201 consecutive patients who underwent 212 percutaneous counterpulsation balloon insertions from June 1989 to June 1996 by use of balloons with 8-9.5 French shafts. Of these, 82% were men and 36 (18%) were women, with a mean age of 61 +/-12 years. Indications for counterpulsation were acute myocardial infarction (AMI) (67%), severe left ventricular failure without AMI (20%), dilated cardiomyopathy (4%), unstable angina (3%), high-risk supported percutaneous coronary angioplasty (2%), and others (4%). IABP was instituted at the bedside in the intensive care unit in 82 patients (39%) and in the catheterization laboratory in 130 (61%). Median duration of counterpulsation was 48 hours (range 30 minutes to 25 days) with successful weaning from counterpulsation in 70% (148 of 212) of procedures. Overall in-hospital mortality rate was 45% (90 of 201). The overall complication rate was 22/212 (10.4%). Major complications were present in 10/212 procedures (4.7%): 6 patients with limb ischemia (1 death directly attributed to this complication, 1 with associated septicemia and limb amputation, 3 requiring surgical thromboembolectomy, and 1 with persistent limb ischemia treated medically until his death caused by intractable left ventricular failure), 2 with important bleeding (1 fatal despite vascular surgical repair and 1 requiring blood transfusion) and 2 with balloon rupture requiring vascular surgery. Minor complications were present in 12 procedures (5.7%), 6 with limb ischemia, 3 with local bleeding, and 3 with catheter dysfunction. All of these resolved after balloon removal and required no further intervention. When limb ischemia did develop it occurred after a median delay of 24 hours following balloon insertion (range 2 to 98 hours). The only predictor of limb ischemia among baseline clinical and procedure-related variables was an age greater than 60 years. Compared with previous recent studies, the rate of complications observed in this study performed with small balloon catheters was acceptably low. Limb ischemia was the most frequent complication, often occurred early, and required further intervention in half the cases.