ECMO Therapy: Machine Replaces the Function of Heart & Lungs

Extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO) helps patients after a heart attack or pneumonia. The ECMO machine allows the body to recover by doing the work of the heart and lungs. Nick Teman, MD, explains what to expect if a loved one needs ECMO as a treatment option at UVA.
Learn more at: uvahealth.com/services/heart-...
Transcript
My name is Nick Teman. I’m a cardiac surgeon at the University of Virginia. I’m the medical director of the adult ECMO program, as well as the co-director of the thoracic and cardiovascular intensive care unit. ECMO stands for extracorporeal membrane oxygenation. Essentially, it’s a heart-lung machine that we utilize in patients who are developing severe cardiac or respiratory failure. These are patients that have had a massive heart attack, patients that have severe pneumonia, or other conditions that cause their heart or lungs to not be functioning as well as we’d like them to. Essentially, the ECMO machine allows their body to recover while replacing the function of those organs. When a patient requires ECMO at the University of Virginia, their families should expect to see many doctors and specialists who will be involved in helping to take care of their family member. The ECMO team will evaluate the patient and if we decide that the patient is appropriate to utilize ECMO therapy, then we will place them on the ECMO machine. We’ll have an ECMO specialist at their bedside 24 hours a day, watching the machine and helping to take care of the patient. They’ll have dedicated ICU nurses and ICU respiratory therapists that will be helping take care of the patient from a global standpoint, and they’ll have several teams of physicians that will be involved in taking care of the patient. It may initially look a little scary to see several tubes and drains coming out of their loved one transporting the blood, but this is something that we deal with every day, and we will do our best to make sure that you are comfortable as well with what you’re seeing with your loved one. Over the course of several days, hopefully the patient will improve and come off of the ECMO machine, but if not, then we’ll be talking about other treatment options and what the next step is beyond that. Our group of ECMO specialists is well trained and is able to take care of both adults and children, and really, we have a lot of experience at UVA taking care of all different types of patients with different disease processes that require ECMO. We have multiple ECMO specialists in the hospital 24 hours a day, and we’re always available to take care of patients when the need arises.

[@jaredhartwell2343]

My gf is going to start ECMO tomorrow, I’m praying this machine saves her life 🥺💚🙏

[@13XxHabsFanxX21]

How is she? My dad started it 3 days ago 😔

[@rahulmadhusudhan8944]

@@13XxHabsFanxX21how is your dad ?

[@13XxHabsFanxX21]

@@rahulmadhusudhan8944 he passed away shortly after 😢

[@patriciawagstaff6302]

Why was ecmo machine not offered for my husband as he had severe HF

[@Storked]

Saved my life when I couldn't be incubated because of a seizure