A study of the lateral wall pressure exerted by balloon-tipped catheters.

A technique was developed for assessing the lateral wall pressure exerted by balloon-tipped catheters. It was found that (1) high intraballoon pressures do not produce high lateral wall pressures in a minimally constricting lumen; (2) inflation of the balloon by partial compression of a large initial volume of air results in a much more compressible balloon and produces markedly less arterial distortion; and (3) use of the catheters inflated in this way is effective clinically. Therefore, instead of the usual technique, we recommend inflation of the embolectomy balloon by partial compression of a comparatively large initial volume of air in the syringe.