Extracorporeal membrane oxygenation as emergency treatment for life-threatening acute severe asthma

Abstract

We report a case of acute severe asthma that was resistant to full medical treatment, mechanical ventilation and halothane inhalation. Because a fatal outcome appeared likely extracorporeal membrane oxygenation, involving partial cardiac bypass, using femoral artery and femoral vein cannulation was instituted as an urgent measure. The patient then made a satisfactory recovery. © The Fellowship of Postgraduate Medicine, 1986.