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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Chadi Tanios Abouassaly, MD
Adult Cardiothoracic Anesthesiology, Trauma Surgery, Surgical Critical Care & General Surgery
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Brian Thomas Bethea, MD
Thoracic Surgery, General Surgery, Emergency General Surgery & Cardiac Surgery
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Jeffrey E. Cohen, MD
Cardiac Surgery & Thoracic Surgery
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John V Conte, MD
Thoracic Surgery & Cardiac Surgery
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Kevin Grant Handy, MD
Critical Care Medicine, Anesthesiology & Cardiac Critical Care
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Elena Kathryn Lages, AGACNP-BC MSN
Critical Care Medicine
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Anna Lisa Supapo-Namata Licud, MSN NP
Surgical Critical Care & Critical Care Medicine
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Alena Lira, MD
Emergency Medicine, Cardiac Critical Care & Critical Care Medicine
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Michael Alan Matyas, MD
Nuclear Radiology, Diagnostic Radiology & Cardiac Imaging
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Kathleen E. Miltner, AGACNP-BC MSN
Critical Care Medicine & Surgical Critical Care
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Alexander Nissen, MD
Cardiac Surgery
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Lauren N. Petchel, PAC
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James Howard Street, MD
Trauma Surgery, General Surgery & Surgical Critical Care
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Elizabeth C. Sullivan, ANPBC MSN
Cardiac Surgery
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Christine T Trankiem, MD
Surgical Critical Care, Trauma Surgery & General Surgery
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Julia E Vanni, MHS PA
Critical Care Medicine
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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.