Nursing Care and Treatment of Ambulatory Patients With Percutaneously Placed Axillary Intra-aortic Balloon Pump Before Heart Transplant

Transplant cardiologists in our hospital have performed the percutaneously placed axillary-subclavian intra-aortic balloon pump procedure since 2007. This procedure allows patients to mobilize and walk while they wait for a heart transplant, rather than remaining on bed rest as they would with a traditional femoral intra-aortic balloon pump. This procedure has presented challenges to the nursing staff. A 2007 literature search revealed no precedent or published nursing articles on this subject. This article reviews heart failure, medical treatments, complications of bed rest associated with the femoral intra-aortic balloon pump, the nursing challenges and unique problems of caring for patients with percutaneously placed axillary-subclavian intra-aortic balloon pumps, and our solutions for those challenges.