Management of acute airway obstruction using extracorporeal membrane oxygenation

The authors describe, to their knowledge, the first management of acute airway obstruction in a newborn infant using Extracorporeal Membrane Oxygenation (ECMO). The infant had a primary diagnosis of gram negative sepsis complicated by pulmonary hemorrhage resulting in a left main stem bronchus obstruction. Despite full ventilatory support, the infant could not be adequately oxygenated. The infant was placed on venovenous ECMO. Airway management also included vigorous physiotherapy, suctioning, and bronchoscopy. The infant was successfully weaned from ECMO after 208 hours. The authors suggest that ECMO could be useful to manage life threatening airway obstruction in the neonate.