Objective To summarize our clinical experience of pulmonary artery banding （PAB） for the treatment of complex congenital heart diseases as a palliative procedure.?Methods?From January 1997 to November 2010, 138 patients with complex congenital heart diseases underwent PAB in Fu Wai Hospital. There were 87 male patients and 51 female patients with their age of 22.2±26.5 months and average body weight of 7.5±4.6 kg. All the 138 patients were divided into 3 groups according to the purpose of PAB：left ventricular retraining （group 1, n=55）, initial procedure for functional single ventricle with unobstructed pulmonary blood flow （group 2, n=32） and initial palliative procedure followed by later biventricular repair （group 3, n=51）. The intraoperative and postoperative clinical parameters of all participants were observed, and follow-up was made for these 3 groups of patients.?Results?The in-hospital mortality of PAB was 5.1% （7/138）. Three patients underwent re-banding procedure to adjust the size of banding. In group 1, there was 1 postoperative death. Among the 55 patients, 36 patients with dextro-transposition of great arteries received PAB at an average age of 19.6±29.5 months, 29 patients of whom underwent concomitant modified Blalock-Taussig shunt. After an average training interval for 42 days, 83.3% of them（30/36）successfully received arterial switch operation. The other 19 patients in group 1 with isolated corrected transposition of great arteries received PAB at an average age of 45.3±27.2 months. Afteran average training interval for 9 months, 42.1% of them （8/19） successfully received double-switch operation. In group 2, there was 2 postoperative death. Thirty-two patients with functional single ventricle and unobstructed pulmonary blood flow received PAB at an average age of 14.1±14.9 months. Their postoperative mean pulmonary artery pressure decreased significantly from 34.00±10.00 mm Hg to 23.00±7.40 mm Hg, and their oxygen saturation of blood （SpO2） significantly decreased from 92.60%±5.90% to 83.30%±6.30%. After a median interval of 2 years, 18.8% of them （6/32） underwent right heart bypass operation. In group 3, there was 4 postoperative death. Fifty-one patients received PAB at an average age of 20.60±25.60 months. After PAB procedure, the ratio of systolic pulmonary artery pressure and systolic blood pressure significantly decreased from 0.81±0.14 to 0.46±0.15, and their SpO2 significantly decreased from 93.10%±7.60% to 85.00%±10.00%. After a median interval of 6 months, 23.5% of them （12/51） received biventricular repair.?ConclusionAlthough PAB is a palliative procedure with comparatively high risks, it still plays an indispensable role in terms of protecting pulmonary vascular beds, retraining ventricular function and two-stage surgical correction for the treatment of complex congenital heart diseases.