The Medical University of Vienna and Vienna General Hospital have implanted Sequana Medical's ALFApump System to their patients with refractory ascites due to liver cirrhosis.
The system features a subcutaneously implanted battery-powered pump with a catheter placed in the abdominal cavity and another catheter connected to bladder where it collects fluid and eliminates through normal urination.
Vienna General Hospital Internal Medicine Gastroenterology and Hepatologydivision vice-chairman Markus Peck-Radosavljevic said by using the ALFApump, the patient no longer has to return to the hospital on a frequent basis to undergo drainage procedures.
"This positively impacts on both Quality of Life of the patient and the financial burden to the healthcare system," Peck-Radosavljevic said.