The application of extracorporeal membrane oxygenation in emergent airway management - a single-center retrospective study

Background Emergent airway occurrences pose a significant threat to patient life. Extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO) has been proven to be an effective method for managing emergent airways. Methods A retrospective analysis was conducted on all patients receiving ECMO as an adjunct for emergent airway management from January 2018 to December 2022 at the People’s Hospital of Zhongshan City. We collected the basic information of the patients, their blood gas data before and after ECMO, the related parameters of ECMO, and the outcome and then analyzed and summarized these data. Results Six patients, with an average age of 51.0(28–66) years, received veno-venous (VV)- ECMO as an adjunct due to emergent airway issues. The average ECMO support duration was 30.5(11–48) hours. All six patients were successfully weaned off ECMO support, with five (83.3%) being successfully discharged after a hospital stay of 15.5(7–55) days. All six patients underwent VV-ECMO through femoral-internal jugular vein cannulation. Among these, five patients, whose airway obstruction was due to hemorrhage, underwent a non-anticoagulant ECMO strategy with no recorded thrombotic events. Conclusions The rapid establishment of ECMO support is aided by the establishment of a standardized ECMO initiation protocol and the formation of a multidisciplinary rapid-response ECMO team, which is particularly crucial for emergent airway management. When airway obstruction results from hemorrhagic factors, the early adoption of a non-anticoagulant ECMO strategy can be considered when implementing VV-ECMO.