Prague Med. Rep. 2021, 122, 61-72

https://doi.org/10.14712/23362936.2021.7

Extracorporeal Oxygenation Techniques in Adult Critical Airway Obstruction: A Review

Michal Pořízka1, Pavel Michálek1,2, Jiří Votruba3, Basem B. Abdelmalak4

1Department of Anesthesiology and Intensive Care Medicine, First Faculty of Medicine, Charles University and General University Hospital in Prague, Prague, Czech Republic
2Department of Anaesthesia, Antrim Area Hospital, Antrim, United Kingdom
31st Department of Tuberculosis and Respiratory Diseases, First Faculty of Medicine, Charles University and General University Hospital in Prague, Prague, Czech Republic
4Departments of General Anesthesiology and Outcomes Research, Cleveland Clinic, Cleveland Clinic Lerner College of Medicine of Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland, USA

Received June 22, 2020
Accepted April 30, 2021

Extracorporeal life support has been increasingly utilized in different clinical settings to manage either critical respiratory or heart failure. Complex airway surgery with significant or even total perioperative airway obstruction represents an indication for this technique to prevent/overcome a critical period of severe hypoxaemia, hypoventilation, and/or apnea. This review summarizes the current published scientific evidence on the utility of extracorporeal respiratory support in airway obstruction associated with hypoxaemia, describes the available methods, their clinical indications, and possible limitations. Extracorporeal membrane oxygenation using veno-arterial or veno-venous mode is most commonly employed in such scenarios caused by endoluminal, external, or combined obstruction of the trachea and main bronchi.

References

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