Venovenous Long Term Extracorporeal CO

A 14-year-old male patient developed a severe respiratory insufficiency after a cart racing accident complicated by a bilateral pneumothorax, lung contusion and a rupture of a segmental lobe bronchus, for which two subsequential surgical interventions were needed. Due to a decreased lung compliance, alveolar ventilation was decreased to a minimum, resulting in the development of hypercapnia. The patient was placed on partial venovenous bypass utilizing the Biomedicus centrifugal pump and two Sarns hollow fiber membrane oxygenators, in combination with low frequency positive pressure ventilation, for extracorporeal CO2 removal with limited anticoagulation. This case report illustrates the safe use and continuous effective performance of the hollow fiber membrane oxygenator and centrifugal pump for more than 60 hours. Despite all efforts to create an environment for the lungs to heal, the patient succumbed due to irreversible traumatic cerebral damage and the bypass procedure was terminated after 60 hours