Ground transportation of a pediatric patient on ECMO support.
Extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO) is a technique for providing cardiac and/or pulmonary support. Many hospitals worldwide practice ECMO at some time, yet few centers are able to offer a portable ECMO service, with the United Kingdom being of no exception. We describe the first reported successful ground transfer of a 22-kg girl with suspected myocarditis, supported by veno-arterial ECMO between two hospitals within the United Kingdom (U.K.). A modified Falcon series 2 patient stretcher was used to transport the patient and house the ECMO hardware, consisting of a Levitronix Centri-Mag pump system, a Hico-variotherm 550 heater/cooler unit, and an oxygen supply. Design limitations and future technical recommendations of the portable ECMO system subsequent to clinical experience are discussed.
Perfusion Department, Theatres, Glenfield Hospital, Leicester, United Kingdom. machin_david36@hotmail.com
David
D
Machin
Richard
R
Scott
Aimee
A
Hurst
D002648:Child; D004867:Equipment Design; D015199:Extracorporeal Membrane Oxygenation / Q000295:instrumentation* / Q000379:methods; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D009205:Myocarditis; D010360:Patient Transfer; D014187:Transportation of Patients / Q000379:methods*