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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Keki Balsara, MD
Cardiac Surgery
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Brenda Jean Beckett, CRNP
Cardiothoracic Surgery
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Cierra Bruck, PA-C
Cardiac Surgery
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Ashley Chenoweth, AGACNP-BC
Cardiac Surgery
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Jeffrey E. Cohen, MD
Cardiac Surgery
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John V Conte, MD
Cardiac Surgery
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Laura Lee Cramer-Joyce, ANP-BC
Cardiac Surgery
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Michael Jeffrey Hockstein, MD
Cardiac Critical Care
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Dureaden Khan, PA
Cardiac Surgery
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Brian George Lee, MD
Cardiac Critical Care
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Alena Lira, MD
Cardiac Critical Care
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Thomas Edward MacGillivray, MD
Cardiac Surgery
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Pamela M. Paufler, MD
Cardiac Critical Care
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Alexandra Kristina Pratt, MD
Critical Care Medicine
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Elizabeth C. Sullivan, ANP-BC, CRNP
Cardiac Surgery
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Jonathan R. Gower, MD
Cardiothoracic Surgery
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Our locations
Distance from Change locationEnter your location
MedStar Good Samaritan Hospital
5601 Loch Raven Blvd. Baltimore, MD 21239
MedStar Union Memorial Hospital
201 E. University Pkwy. Baltimore, MD 21218
MedStar Franklin Square Medical Center
9000 Franklin Square Dr. Baltimore, MD 21237
MedStar St. Mary's Hospital
25500 Point Lookout Rd. Leonardtown, MD 20650
MedStar Harbor Hospital
3001 S. Hanover St. Baltimore, MD 21225
MedStar Washington Hospital Center
110 Irving St. NW Washington, DC 20010
Related services
Ask MedStar Heart & Vascular Institute
Have general questions for our heart and vascular program? Email us at AskMHVI@medstar.net. If you have clinically-specific questions, please contact your physician’s office.