Pitfalls in Management of the ECMO Supported Patients

In this presentation, anesthesiologist Jiri Horak, MD, examines the management of patients on V-V and V-A ECMO support with two objectives: to define the potential hazards of therapy (including hypoxemia, pulmonary edema, LV distension and organ failure), and to describe the various, often remediable, causes of these events (e.g., pump and oxygenator malfunction, mis-positioning of the inflow cannula).