1. Four cases of acute respiratory distress syndrome patients transported with veno-venous extracorporeal membrane oxygenation
Zhe ZHAO ; Xiaoyang HONG ; Yingyue LIU ; Xiaojuan ZHANG ; Langshan BAO ; Haitao GAO ; Xiaohong LIU ; Zhichun FENG
Chinese Journal of Pediatrics 2018;56(4):298-302
Objective:
To retrospectively review 4 cases diagnosed with pediatric acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS) who were transported with veno-venous (V-V) extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO) from April 2016 to March 2017.
Methods:
Four patients were transported to Bayi Children's Hospital Afflicted to the PLA Army General Hospital, with V-V ECMO. Their vital signs, blood-gas analysis and chest X-ray before and after transportation were compared. The length of ECMO, pediatric intensive care unit (PICU) stay and hospitalization, and the prognosis were analyzed.
Results:
All the four cases were transported to our hospital successfully from distances between 1 000 km to 1 210 km. The 4 cases were 4 to 6 years old with the body weight of 19 to 35 kg, of whom 3 were boys and 1 was girl. The catheters were inserted in the right jugular vein and femoral vein. The vital signs and blood-gas analysis after transportation did not change significantly compared to baseline. The length of ECMO for the four patients were 48, 754, 157 and 438 hours. They stayed in the PICU for 10, 32, 14 and 19 days, respectively. At last, 2 of them were successfully discharged from hospital without any complications; however, the other 2 died of multiple organ failure.
Conclusion
Transporting ARDS patients with a satisfactory cardiac function under VV-ECMO by an experienced ECMO team is safe.