Extracorporeal membrane oxygenation

Abstract

Extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO) is a life saving measure, but like all treatments, the technique has limitations. The basic concept is that an oxygenator will perform all gas exchange similar to the native lung via extracorporeal blood circulation. A pump must drive the blood through the oxygenator back to the body. In venovenous ECMO, the oxygenated blood is returned to the right side of the heart where it is mixed with native blood. It passes through the lungs and then back out to the body. In veno-arterial ECMO, the blood bypasses the heart and returns to the arterial side under pressure where it mixes with the native circulation. In contrast to VV-ECMO, VA-ECMO provides support for low cardiac output and blood pressure. It also provides slightly higher systemic oxygen delivery. © 2011 Springer Science+Business Media, LLC.