Double-Guidewire-Assisted Balloon Traction for Removing Fractured Catheters: A New Approach.

BACKGROUND

Catheter fracture is a rare and serious complication of interventional therapy, causing vascular injury or embolization without timely intervention, making the safe and minimally invasive retrieval of fractured catheters an important research focus.

CASE SUMMARY: A 36-year-old female patient with cervical pregnancy experienced a catheter fracture in the left internal iliac artery branch during uterine artery embolization, which was successfully retrieved using double-guidewire-assisted balloon traction.

DISCUSSION: Double-guidewire-assisted balloon traction can be attempted when the guidewire is difficult to pass through the free-floating fractured catheter in small-caliber vessels. The critical step involves advancing a guidewire through the gap between the fractured catheter and the vessel wall to induce vasospasm, thus stabilizing the free-floating catheter.

TAKE-HOME MESSAGE: This case presents a novel balloon-assisted traction technique for retrieving fractured catheters in small-caliber vessels, particularly when the guidewire is difficult to pass through the lumen of the free-floating fractured catheter.