Background

Intra‐aortic balloon pump counterpulsation (IABP) is currently the most commonly used mechanical assist device for patients with cardiogenic shock due to acute myocardial infarction. Although there has been only limited evidence from randomised controlled trials, the previous guidelines of the American Heart Association/American College of Cardiology (AHA/ACC) and the European Society of Cardiology (ESC) strongly recommended the use of the IABP in patients with infarction‐related cardiogenic shock on the basis of pathophysiological considerations, non‐randomised trials and registry data. The recent guidelines downgraded the recommendation based on a meta‐analysis which could only include non‐randomised trials showing conflicting results. Up to now, there have been no guideline recommendations and no actual meta‐analysis including the results of the large randomised multicentre IABP‐SHOCK II Trial which showed no survival benefit with IABP support. This systematic review is an update of the review published in 2011.