Affiliation:
1. Department of Anaesthesia and Surgical Intensive Care Medicine, University Hospital Augsburg, Stenglinstr. 2, 86156 Augsburg, Germany
Abstract
Management of acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) is still a challenge for the staff on intensive-care units (ICU’s) around the world. Many of these patients are treated with invasive ventilation. Sometimes, the occurrence of pneumothorax and/or pneumomediastinum can complicate the course of the disease because initiation of invasive ventilation might be fatal in those patients. Venovenous extracorporal membrane oxygenation (vv-ECMO) is increasingly used to prevent patients with severe ARDS from hypoxia. However, clear recommendations for or against the initiation of vv-ECMO in awake patients are currently lacking. We present the case of a 42-year-old patient with COVID-19-associated severe ARDS, pneumothorax, and pneumomediastinum. To preserve sufficient oxygenation and to avoid invasive ventilation, we implanted a vv-ECMO while the patient was awake. The patient recovered and was discharged home 41 days after transfer to our hospital. We therefore suggest that awake implantation of vv-ECMO might be useful in a subgroup of patients with severe ARDS caused by SARS-CoV-2. However, further evidence is needed to verify our hypothesis.
Subject
Critical Care and Intensive Care Medicine
Cited by
2 articles.
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