Uso del Balón de Contrapulsación Intra-Aórtico en Cirugía Cardiovascular Use of the Intra-aortic Balloon Pump in Cardiovascular Surgery

Introduction: The intra-aortic balloon pump is the most used temporary ventricular assistance device in the cardiovascular surgery. Objective: To characterize the preoperative and operative variables of patients with intra-aortic balloon pump indication and to determine the association between the timing of application of the device and other preoperative and operative characteristics with the in-hospital mortality. Methods: We conducted a retrospective, cross-sectional study that included 73 patients (53 men, mean age 61.7±8.7) with intraaortic balloon pump insertion of 1306 patients undergoing open heart surgery at the Hermanos Ameijeiras Hospital, between January 2008 and December 2010. Results: In-hospital mortality was 34.2 %. Vascular complications related to the balloon pump insertion were 4.8 %. Postoperative balloon pump therapy (78.1 %) prevailed over the operative (15.1 %) and preoperative (6.8 %) insertion. Timing of intra-aortic balloon pump insertion (p=0.000), cardiopulmonary bypass time (p=0.001), aortic cross-clamp time (p=0.006) and surgical time (p=0.024) showed a significant association with the in-hospital mortality in the univariate analysis. Finally, cardiopulmonary bypass time was the only variable that showed a significant and independent association with the in-hospital mortality (OR 3.33 CI 95 % [1.57-7.09], p=0.004). Conclusions: Cardiopulmonary bypass time increase shows a significant and independent association with the in-hospital mortality of patients with intra-aortic balloon pump therapy.