Apparatus and method for the percutaneous insertion of a pediatric intra-aortic balloon catheter

DETAILED DESCRIPTION Accordingly, it is an object of the invention to produce a pediatric intra-aortic balloon catheter which is capable of being inserted percutaneously and sheathlessly.
It is another object of the invention to produce a method for percutaneously inserting said pediatric intra-aortic balloon catheter.
It is yet another object of the invention to produce a pediatric intra-aortic balloon catheter without a guide wire lumen through the catheter which is capable of being inserted percutaneously.
It is a further object of the invention to take advantage of an infant's shallow artery depth to produce a pediatric IAB catheter that is flexible enough to be advanced through an infant's delicate arterial passageway.
It is still a further object of the invention to produce a pediatric intra-aortic balloon catheter, without a guide wire lumen, capable of rapid inflation and deflation of the balloon to accommodate a generally high infant's heart rate.
The invention is a method for percutaneously inserting an improved pediatric intra-aortic balloon.
The improvement comprises a soft tip having a self occluding lumen capable of accommodating a guide wire.
A removable pull tube is disposed within the self occluding lumen to prevent occlusion of the self occluding lumen prior to insertion.
The catheter is designed without a guide wire lumen so as to be capable of rapid inflation and deflation of the balloon.
The method comprises the following steps: (a) inserting an angiographic needle into the aorta; (b) passing the guide wire through the needle a short distance into the aorta; (c) removing the needle; (d) disposing the pull tube about the proximal end of the guide wire; (e) removing the pull tube from the self occluding lumen; (f) advancing the catheter into the aorta; (g) removing the guide wire from the aorta; (h) advancing the catheter up the aortic passageway to a position appropriate for pumping.
To the accomplishment of the above and related objects the invention may be embodied in the form illustrated in the accompanying drawings