Is percutaneous insertion of the intra-aortic balloon pump through the femoral artery the safest technique?

Abstract Between Jan. 1, 1979, and Sept. 30, 1983, 423 intra-aortic balloon pumps (IABPs) were successfully inserted into 400 patients; IABPs could not be inserted in 36 patients (success rate 91.7%). Before 1980 all balloons were inserted surgically through a graft and by 1983 virtually all IABPs were inserted by percutaneous techniques. Infectious complications occurred in 12.3% of IABPs inserted by the open technique and 1.5% of IABPs inserted percutaneously (p 0.5) and when only the surviving patients were analyzed (p > 0.75). However, ischemic complications occurred in 32.9% of women in the study and only 19.7% of the men (p