Saving lives and limbs: Challenges for the REBOA aficionado

Abstract

Although the use of resuscitative endovascular balloon occlusion of the aorta (REBOA) has expanded the management options among patients with noncompressible torso hemorrhage, the risk of procedural complications continues to elicit caution. Although this life-saving adjunct has proven effective in carefully select patients, limb loss remains a dreaded complication that demands proper training, technique, and experience. Lower profile balloons have simplified the management of the arterial puncture and possibly the rate of iatrogenic vascular injury sustaining the desire for an alternative to resuscitative thoracotomy.