ECMO support helps child recover after 2 cardiac arrests

‘It is the most advanced procedure’

A two-and-a-half-year-old child, who suffered two cardiac arrests, has recovered with the support of extracorporeal cardiopulmonary resuscitation, a method of cardiopulmonary resuscitation using extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO), at a private hospital in the city.

According to a release, the boy had fever for a week and lung infection, and was admitted to a private hospital in Thanjavur where he suffered the first cardiac arrest.

An emergency call was made to Rela Hospital for ECMO support. The team shifted the child in an ambulance on ventilator support from Thanjavur to Chennai. On arrival, the child had a second cardiac arrest and multi-organ failure. His oxygen level dropped to 80% due to respiratory failure and heart function was 5%-10%.