It was reported that after intra-aortic balloon (iab) therapy, the customer was having difficulty removing the balloon.During therapy, blood was seen in the helium tubing and were unable to remove balloon in the intensive care unit (icu).A vascular surgeon was called and the patient sent to the operating room (or).The surgeon had cut the balloon at the shaft, just before the balloon began and some of the balloon was stuck in the iliac artery.The surgeon made a cut down incision, but was still unable to remove the balloon.Getinge representative spoke to the surgeon via phone in the operating room, suggested that there is possibility of a large clot formation in the balloon depending on how long it had been leaking.A second iab had already been placed, as the patient was unstable and had been on extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ecmo) for a week and just taken off.Upon follow-up call to the customer, the patient spent 10 hours in the operating room and the balloon was removed.A large clot was reportedly found in the leaking balloon.
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