ECMO gains ground as life-saving treatment

It came into prominence during hospitalisation of Jayalalithaa

September 16, 2017 11:28 pm | Updated 11:28 pm IST - CHENNAI

It was with the hospitalisation of former Chief Minister Jayalalithaa that the term ECMO (Extra Corporeal Membrane Oxygenation) gained currency in Tamil Nadu, probably years after it was first used in a State that has been at the forefront of medical care and using medical technology. The life-saving device has been used increasingly over the recent past to pull people literally out of the jaws of death.

On Saturday, Vidya Guru, a 30-year-old woman, looked fit and fine as she spoke to the press about her experience. Less than six months ago, the schoolteacher had spent 56 days in hospital, hooked up to machines. She was involved in a road traffic accident and the ECMO at MIOT International Hospital had saved her life.

Last month, a three-year-old who had drunk pain thinner, mistaking it for water, was put on the ECMO at KanchiKamakoti CHILDS Trust Hospital, and after eight days, had recovered.

In Ms. Vidya’s case, the critical care team at MIOT found that she had low blood pressure and difficulty in breathing. She was put on a ventilator, and doctors found she had major pelvic injuries and injuries in the abdomen. “We did surgery and part of her intestine was removed,” said director of the critical care unit, T.P. Nisheeth.

But despite being on the ventilator, Ms. Vidya’s lungs were badly affected, and her organs were falling. She had developed Acute Respiratory Distress Syndrome. It was then that doctors decided to put her on ECMO, a device that does the work of the lungs, thereby giving the lungs time to rest and recover. In three-year-old Gitvin’s case, he was first taken to a hospital in Nellore, near his home with breathing difficulty and then transferred to a medical college. He had extensive pneumonia and was put on a ventilator there, and later referred to CHILDS Trust Hospital. Despite the ventilator and treatment, his oxygen levels remained critically low, causing his liver and kidney to fail. The team of doctors, Bala Ramachandran, Sajith Kesavan and K. Ravikumar decided on ECMO, and the cardiac surgery team from Fortis Malar hospital led by K.R. Balakrishnan started him on ECMO.

“After 24 hours, Ms. Vidya’s oxygen levels became normal, and her blood pressure stabilised,” said Dr. Nisheeth. It took a further 20 days on ECMO for her lungs to recover, after which she was put on the ventilator again.

0 / 0
Sign in to unlock member-only benefits!
  • Access 10 free stories every month
  • Save stories to read later
  • Access to comment on every story
  • Sign-up/manage your newsletter subscriptions with a single click
  • Get notified by email for early access to discounts & offers on our products
Sign in

Comments

Comments have to be in English, and in full sentences. They cannot be abusive or personal. Please abide by our community guidelines for posting your comments.

We have migrated to a new commenting platform. If you are already a registered user of The Hindu and logged in, you may continue to engage with our articles. If you do not have an account please register and login to post comments. Users can access their older comments by logging into their accounts on Vuukle.