Preliminary report on the use of the percluder® occluding aortic balloon in human beings

Management of massive exsanguinating hemorrhage is a major challenge in acute trauma care. The value of military antishock trousers (MAST) in this setting is controversial. In selected instances, thoracotomy with aortic cross-clamping may be effective and often is used as the "gold standard" to which new experimental therapy is compared. Previous animal research with an occluding aortic balloon catheter (Percluder®) has shown this technique to be physiologically similar to aortic cross clamping. The Percluder® was more effective than the MAST plus volume replacement in controlling hemorrhage and prolonging four-hour survival from blunt splenic trauma in an animal model. We have used the Percluder® in 23 patients with life-threatening hemorrhage. There were 15 trauma cases, five cases of ruptured abdominal aortic aneurysm, and three others. Only nine of 23 patients (39%) had vital signs when the balloon was inserted; all showed an increase in arterial blood pressure of about 50% to 100% ( P