Anesthetic management of high-risk cardiac patients undergoing noncardiac surgery under the support of intraaortic balloon pump.

Patients with severely impaired left ventricular function, an uncorrectable coronary artery disease, and a recent myocardial infarction are at high risk of cardiac complications after major noncardiac surgery. We present two patients with extensive three-vessel coronary artery disease who underwent intraperitoneal surgery under the support of intraaortic balloon pump (IABP). In one patient, the IABP was inserted urgently because of the development of chest pain with significant ST depression on arrival in the operating room, and the other patient was managed with prophylactic IABP. There were no intraoperative or postoperative cardiac events in either patient. Thus, IABP should be considered in the perioperative management of patients with severe cardiac diseases.