ECMO Used for the Benefit of a Patient's Family: Case Study

AbstractSurgeons often become caregivers and facilitators for patients and their families during the transition from life into death. The question becomes how they should navigate this transition when they have access to life-prolonging resources. A 77-year-old suffers a type A dissection requiring emergent surgery complicated by inability to wean from cardiopulmonary bypass. The decision is made to place the patient on venoarterial extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO) so the family can be with the patient in the intensive care unit (ICU). The patient is promptly transitioned to comfort care and dies shortly after arrival in the ICU. Should ECMO be used to facilitate family members' goodbyes to their loved ones? Resource allocation is very important when considering this question, as are the responsibilities of the surgeon to the patient and family. Transiently escalating care could be seen as just since it facilitated the health of the patient's family.