• M L Field, A Rengarajan, O Khan, T Spyt, and D Richens.
• Cardiothoracic Centre, Department of Cardiothoracic Surgery, Liverpool, Merseyside, UK, L14 3PE. mlfield@doctors.net.uk
• Cochrane Db Syst Rev. 2007 Jan 1(1):CD004472.

BackgroundThe intra aortic balloon pump (IABP) is a mechanical assist device which improves cardiac function. The device has a well-established place in algorithms for managing low cardiac output following cardiac surgery. There is increasing evidence that certain cardiac surgery patients benefit from a period of preoperative augmentation with the intra aortic balloon pump.ObjectivesTo determine the effect of the preoperative intra aortic balloon pump on mortality and morbidity in a number of different patients groups undergoing coronary artery bypass grafting.Search StrategySearches were performed of the following databases: Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials (CENTRAL) on The Cochrane Library (Issue 1 2005), MEDLINE (2000-2005) and EMBASE (1998-2005). No language restrictions were applied.Selection CriteriaRandomised or controlled trials of any size or length were included.Data Collection And AnalysisPapers were assessed for inclusion by two reviewers independently. Differences were settled by consensus with a third reviewer. Data were extracted and entered into RevMan 4.1, through which a meta-analysis of the data was performed.Main ResultsFive randomised controlled trials were identified from a total of 765 studies (4 on-pump and 1 off-pump). Data from a total of 193 patients were included in the meta-analysis; all on-pump. Generally, the patients were designated as "high risk" . 105 patients were treated preoperatively with IABP and 88 patients served as controls. There were three hospital deaths in the intervention arm and 18 in the non-intervention arm (odds ratio (OR) 0.16; 95% confidence intervals (CI): 0.06 to 0.4; P<0.0001). Low cardiac index (<2.0 L/min/m2) was noted in 21 out of 105 patients in the treatment arm and 59 patients out of 88 in the non-treatment arm (OR 0.14; 95% CI: 0.08 to 0.25; P<0.00001). A large proportion of the control group had an IABP inserted postoperatively for low cardiac index (52 out of 88). An off-pump versus on-pump analysis was not possible due to the limited number of off-pump studies. However a single well-conducted randomised controlled trial suggested favourable effect of the preoperative IABP in off-pump patients.Authors' ConclusionsAvailable evidence suggests the preoperative intra aortic balloon pump may have a beneficial effect on mortality and morbidity in specific high risk patient groups undergoing coronary artery bypass grafting, however, the randomised evidence is from a number of small trials, with a high proportion of unstable patients, recruited at a single institution.

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