Key result
Prolonged femoro-femoral venovenous ECMO for 2 weeks successfully stabilized a 53-year-old female patient with an iatrogenic tracheal tear to facilitate airway healing.
This commentary discusses the challenges of anticoagulation management in surgical patients requiring prolonged ECMO for airway healing.
Extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO) can tremendously facilitate complex airway surgery or surgery in patients with limited cardiopulmonary reserve.1-3 Hawkins and colleagues4 report a complex case of a 53-year-old female patient with viral pneumonia, an iatrogenic tracheal tear, and severe soft-tissue emphysema. A femoro-femoral venovenous ECMO was established to initially stabilize the patient and support the surgical repair. Subsequently, the ECMO was prolonged for 2 weeks to reduce ventilation pressures and thus facilitate the healing of the airway.
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Schweiger et al. (2020) conducted an editorial in Viral pneumonia, iatrogenic tracheal tear, and severe soft-tissue emphysema (n=1). Femoro-femoral venovenous ECMO was evaluated. Prolonged femoro-femoral venovenous ECMO for 2 weeks successfully stabilized a 53-year-old female patient with an iatrogenic tracheal tear to facilitate airway healing.
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