OBJECTIVES The aim of the present study was to evaluate procedural risk factors, incidence and timing of reintervention because of recurrent aortic coarctation in children. METHODS The study cohort consisted of 304 patients with isolated coarctation: 251 underwent surgery and 53 were treated percutaneously (40 balloon angioplasty, 13 stent) at the Helsinki Children's Hospital in 2000-2012. Characteristics, intervention and reintervention data were retrospectively collected from clinical records until 2014 (median follow-up 7.9 years). Age- and sex-matched comparisons between the treatment groups were performed in 86 patients (surgery n = 43, percutaneous n = 43). RESULTS Forty of the 251 (16%) patients after surgery, 9/40 (23%) patients after balloon angioplasty and 4/13 (31%) patients after stent placement underwent a reintervention after a median time of 3.4, 11.7 and 19.5 months (P