Related Experiment Video
Updated: Jan 27, 2026

The Intra-Aortic Balloon Pump
Published on: February 5, 2021
Nursing Care and Treatment of Ambulatory Patients With Percutaneously Placed Axillary Intra-aortic Balloon Pump
Frederick R Macapagal1,2,3,4,5, Emma McClellan6,7,8,9,10, Rosario O Macapagal6,7,8,9,10
1Frederick R. Macapagal is a registered nurse III in the cardiac intensive care unit at DeBakey Heart and Vascular Center, Houston Methodist Hospital, Houston, Texas. fmacapagal@houstonmethodist.org.
Abstract:
Transplant cardiologists in our hospital have performed the percutaneously placed axillary-subclavian intra-aortic balloon pump procedure since 2007. This procedure allows patients to mobilize and walk while they wait for a heart transplant, rather than remaining on bed rest as they would with a traditional femoral intra-aortic balloon pump. This procedure has presented challenges to the nursing staff. A 2007 literature search revealed no precedent or published nursing articles on this subject. This article reviews heart failure, medical treatments, complications of bed rest associated with the femoral intra-aortic balloon pump, the nursing challenges and unique problems of caring for patients with percutaneously placed axillary-subclavian intra-aortic balloon pumps, and our solutions for those challenges.
Related Concept Videos
Planning Nursing Care II
Planning Nursing Care I
Patient-centered Care
Aortic Regurgitation IV: Nursing Management
Anatomy of the Heart
Kidney Transplant III: Nursing Management

