It was reported while a getinge cardiac assist account manager (caam) was visiting the facility, it was reported to her that ¿gas loss in iab circuit¿ continued to occur during use on a patient.The representative was called to the patient¿s bedside to assist and reported that the iabp alarmed every 30-40 minutes while she was there.The representative performed complete troubleshooting.The customer had not done a chest x-ray in 2 days and the caam suggested they do so.This later verified proper placement of the intra-aortic balloon (iab).A small amount of condensation was observed in the extender tubing, and the caam and customer decided to change out pump to see if problem was likely the catheter or the iabp.However, it was at that point that the cardiologist advised that the pump was alarming the same alarm shortly after insertion and they already had changed the iabp once.At that time, the cardiologist verified the insertion site and noted that helium was moving in and out of the iab fine.He elected not to change out the iabp.The nurses were advised to manage the alarm with iab fill/start keys.Nevertheless, in spite of this direction, the nurse manager called getinge emergency line in the evening to report ongoing problem, and on the following morning, the nurse manager advised that the alarm continued during the night but much less- only alarmed twice.It was agreed that this was not an iabp problem given that the alarm - which usually is a catheter problem continued with a change to a different iabp.Customer was advised to return the catheter to getinge when it is removed from patient, but they have a process which requires them to keep it first.No adverse event was reported.A separate report was submitted for investigation of the iab.
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