Percutaneous transluminal angioplasty balloon inflation with syringes: who needs an inflator?

High pressures are important in percutaneous transluminal angioplasty, particularly in hemodialysis access. Although many operators rely on commercially available inflators, small syringes can deliver high pressures, which might make inflators unnecessary. Recently introduced polycarbonate (PC) syringes may allow higher pressure delivery than traditional polypropylene (PP) ones, so the present study was performed to determine predictors of inflation pressures achievable with various syringe designs.

Forty-two subjects participated: 12 residents, 12 interventional radiology fellows, 12 interventional radiology attending physicians, and six others. Each subject made three attempts to deliver maximum pressure with use of a calibrated gauge for each syringe type (1-, 3-, 5-/6-, 10-, and 20-mL PP and PC syringes). A control experiment was conducted to assess fatigue effects. Age, sex, grip strength measured on a dynamometer, and physical parameters (height, weight, body mass index [BMI]) were collected for each participant.

Pressures of 40 atm or greater were achieved by more than 90% of subjects with 1-mL PC syringes (mean, 47 atm +/- 7 [SD]). Female subjects generated lower mean pressures with every syringe type (P value range, <.0001 to .025); this effect was least pronounced with 1-mL PC syringes. Grip strength was highly correlated with pressure generation across syringe types. Control experiments showed no significant fatigue effect. With rare exceptions, age, BMI, level of training, height, and weight did not correlate with pressure generation.

Irrespective of sex, grip strength, and BMI, 1-mL PC syringes can be used to generate pressures in excess of 40 atm. High correlation between grip strength and pressure generation may make it possible to predict the pressure an individual can generate with any syringe size or design.