A mechanical pump placed in your aorta to help pump blood
Certain heart conditions can make it difficult for your heart to pump enough blood through your body. Your doctor may recommend intra-aortic balloon counterpulsation therapy to help stabilize your heart if it needs extra support due to heart failure or a heart attack. A small mechanical pump can inflate a balloon placed within one of your coronary arteries to increase blood circulation.
The doctors in our Advanced Heart Failure Program will partner with our Complex Aortic Center team to determine the most effective treatment option for you.
What to expect during intra-aortic balloon counterpulsation
Your doctor may ask you not to eat or drink before the procedure. You will be given a sedative medication through an IV in your arm to help you relax. The doctor may use an echocardiogram to monitor your heart.
Your doctor will numb a small area on your thigh, where they will insert a catheter, which is a thin, flexible tube with a mechanically controlled balloon attached to it. The catheter is guided to the aorta using X-ray imaging for guidance. Once the balloon is in place, it will be programmed to inflate and deflate as your heart pumps to increase blood flow and blood oxygenation.
The counterpulsation therapy may be given over several days, during which time you will stay in the hospital for monitoring.
Tests
Electrocardiogram (ECG)
An electrocardiogram, also known as an ECG, measures the heart’s electrical activity.
Our providers
Location: Change location Enter your location
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Brian Thomas Bethea, MD
General Surgery, Emergency General Surgery, Thoracic Surgery & Cardiac Surgery
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Laura Lee Cramer-Joyce, ANPBC MSN
Cardiac Surgery & Cardiology
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Casey Cushman, MSN NP
Critical Care Medicine
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Joshua David Gay, PA
Critical Care Medicine & Surgical Critical Care
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Jonathan Robert Gower, MD
Cardiac Surgery & Cardiothoracic Surgery
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Yuji Kawano, MD
Cardiac Surgery
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Benjamin Braun Kenigsberg, MD
Cardiac Critical Care, Cardiology, Critical Care Medicine & Cardiovascular Disease
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Kathleen J. Lavery, ACNP-BC MSN
Cardiac Electrophysiology, Anesthesiology, Cardiac Surgery & Cardiovascular Disease
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Alena Lira, MD
Critical Care Medicine, Emergency Medicine & Cardiac Critical Care
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Kathleen E. Miltner, AGACNP-BC MSN
Surgical Critical Care & Critical Care Medicine
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Nicole M Monte-Bovi, AGACNP-BC MSN
Cardiac Surgery & Advanced Heart Failure And Transplant Cardiology
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Alexander Nissen, MD
Cardiac Surgery
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Cierra Catherine O'Neill, MPAS PA
Cardiac Surgery
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Alexander I. Papolos, MD
Critical Care Medicine, Cardiology, Cardiovascular Disease, Interventional Cardiology & Cardiac Critical Care
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Katherine Anne Sharpe, MSPAS PA
Critical Care Medicine
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Julia E Vanni, MHS PA
Critical Care Medicine
Show All
Our locations
Distance from Change locationEnter your location
MedStar Health Cardiac Surgery at MedStar Union Memorial Hospital
3300 North Calvert Street Calvert Street Building Second Floor, Suite A Baltimore, MD 21218
410-554-6534
MedStar Health Cardiac Surgery at MedStar Washington Hospital Center
110 Irving Street, NW First Floor Washington, DC 20010
202-877-3503
Insurance
MedStar Health accepts most major health insurance plans. If you are uncertain as to whether your individual health insurance plan is accepted at MedStar Health, please call your insurance company.