Use of VA-ECMO successfully rescued a trauma patient with fat embolism syndrome complicated with acute heart failure and acute respiratory distress syndrome

Fat embolism syndrome (FES) is a fatal complication of long bone fractures and multiple traumas.Severe FES can lead to potentially fatal respiratory failure in the form of rapidly developing acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS).Here, we report a case of venousarterial extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (VA-ECMO) treatment of a patient with near-fatal pulmonary fat emboli caused by severe trauma.