page_title: Intra-aortic balloon pump
section_title: Contraindications
hierarchical_section_title: Intra-aortic balloon pump / Contraindications
caption_attribution_description: Deutsch: Ballondruckkurve
context_page_description: The intra-aortic balloon pump is a mechanical device that increases myocardial oxygen perfusion and indirectly increases cardiac output through afterload reduction. It consists of a cylindrical polyurethane balloon that sits in the aorta, approximately 2 centimeters from the left subclavian artery. The balloon inflates and deflates via counter pulsation, meaning it actively deflates in systole and inflates in diastole. Systolic deflation decreases afterload through a vacuum effect and indirectly increases forward flow from the heart. Diastolic inflation increases blood flow to the coronary arteries via retrograde flow. These actions combine to decrease myocardial oxygen demand and increase myocardial oxygen supply.
  A computer-controlled mechanism inflates the balloon with helium from a cylinder during diastole, usually linked to either an electrocardiogram or a pressure transducer at the distal tip of the catheter; some IABPs, such as the Datascope System 98XT, allow asynchronous counterpulsation at a set rate, though this setting is rarely used.
caption: Aortic pressure curve in the presence of an intra-aortic balloon pump
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