Pediatric Use of Intraaortic Balloon Pumping

Intraaortic balloon pumping (IABP) has been a standard mode of circulatory support in adult cardiac care for well over a decade [1], but it has had only limited use in infants and children. There are only two reports in the literature describing its use in pediatric patients [2, 3]. In a survey of 47 institutions with training programs in pediatric cardiology in the United States, only 11 reported having any experience with IABP [4].