Shares of Irvine’s I-Flow Corp. closed up Monday after the medical device maker edged out expectations with its quarterly results and said it foresees an operating profit for the year.

The company’s stock closed up nearly 11% Monday on a market value of $175 million.

I-Flow makes devices that deliver targeted anesthesia as an alternative to pain pills for patients after surgery.

For the second quarter, I-Flow reported a net profit of $888,000, versus a loss of $11.4 million a year earlier. The profit beat the $660,000 analysts were looking for on average.

The company reported an operating loss without legal and insurance charges of $1.1 million, versus an operating loss of $12.7 million a year earlier.

Revenue rose 5% to $37.1 million and came in ahead of the $36.8 million analysts were looking for.

Wall Street was further cheered by the company’s outlook for the rest of the year.

I-Flow didn’t offer specific profit numbers but said, “We continue to expect I-Flow to be profitable in 2009, excluding any special charges, and cash flow positive.”

The company projects revenue of $139.7 million to $146 million. Analysts on average had been expecting yearly sales of $138 million.

I-Flow has spent the past year cutting costs.

The company’s On-Q is a pump and catheter that delivers pain-relieving, non-narcotic drugs to a targeted area in the days after surgery.

The company touts its products as a more effective alternative to pain pills, the dominant method of post-surgical treatment.