Percutaneous transluminal angioplasty: pain during balloon inflation

The pain during the balloon dilatation of angioplasty was evaluated prospectively to assess its clinical significance. In 54 angioplasties, no pain was observed in 54%, mild pain in 20%, moderate pain in 11% and severe pain in 15%. Moderate or severe pain was observed in 39% of 28 iliac angioplasties and in 7% of 14 femoral angioplasties. There was a significant difference between the two groups. We did not find any significant correlation between the severity of pain and stenotic ratio before angioplasty. Severe pain may be a warning of severe dissection; in our study, all severe dissections were accompanied by severe pain without arterial rupture.