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Successful prehospital ECMO in drowning resuscitation after prolonged submersion
Jeroen Seesink1, Wietske van der Wielen2, Dinis Dos Reis Miranda3,4
1Department of Anaesthesiology, Erasmus MC University Medical Centre, Rotterdam, The Netherlands.
Abstract:
An 18-year-old drowning victim was successfully resuscitated using prehospital veno-arterial extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (VA-ECMO). Despite 24 min of submersion in water with a surface temperature of 15 °C, the patient was cannulated on-scene and transported to a trauma center. After ICU admission on VA-ECMO, he was decannulated and extubated by day 5. He was transferred to a peripheral hospital on day 6 and discharged home after 3.5 weeks with favorable neurological outcome of a Cerebral Performance Categories (CPC) score of 1 out of 5. This case underscores the potential of prehospital ECMO in drowning cases within a well-equipped emergency response system.
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