Extracorporeal Membrane Oxygenation (ECMO)
Extracorporeal membrane oxygenation, or ECMO for short, is a machine that replaces the function of the heart and lungs so that these organs can heal. An ECMO machine pumps blood outside of your body to a heart-lung machine that removes carbon dioxide and sends oxygen-filled blood back to tissues in the body. It can help when your body needs temporary support to provide tissues with oxygen.
Why Use ECMO?
Typically, an ECMO machine supports patients who are in critical care who:
- Are recovering from heart or lung failure or surgery.
- Need support during critical cardiac procedures
- Have difficulty getting enough oxygen through their lungs even with additional oxygen
- Have difficulty removing carbon dioxide even using a mechanical ventilator
- Have a heart that cannot pump enough blood through the body
- May need the support while waiting for an organ transplant
- May need the support due to COVID-19, acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS) or other infections
Special Heart Conditions that May Require ECMO
- Heart attack (acute myocardial infarction)
- Heart muscle disease (cardiomyopathy)
- Inflammation of the cardiac muscle (myocarditis)
- Life-threatening response to infection (sepsis)
- Low body temperature (severe hypothermia)
- Post-transplant complications
- Shock caused by the heart not pumping enough blood (cardiogenic shock)
Lung (Pulmonary) Conditions that May Require ECMO
- Acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS)
- Blockage in a pulmonary artery in the lungs (pulmonary embolism)
- Coronavirus (COVID-19)
- Defect in the diaphragm
- Flu (influenza)
- High blood pressure in the lungs (pulmonary hypertension)
- Pneumonia
- Respiratory failure
- Trauma
Management of ECMO
North Knoxville Medical Center's ECMO program is comprised of several different medical disciplines working in unison to ensure best-practices and a multi-disciplinary team approach to care. Experienced care is required to manage a patient on ECMO and the team may include a pulmonologist, cardiologist, nutritionist, intensivist, physical therapy, occupation therapy, respiratory therapist, specially trained ICU nurse and others.
Meet The Providers