Faculty Collaboration Database

The use of venovenous extracorporeal membrane oxygenation in sheep receiving severe smoke inhalation injury. Burns Incl Therm Inj 1987 Feb;13(1):34-8

Date

02/01/1987

Pubmed ID

3828855

DOI

10.1016/0305-4179(87)90253-1

Scopus ID

2-s2.0-0023114059 (requires institutional sign-in at Scopus site)   17 Citations

Abstract

Smoke inhalation injury now represents the most frequent cause of death in burn patients, and accounts for 20-80 per cent of overall mortality. We have studied the use of extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO) to support sheep which have received lethal pulmonary smoke damage. The animals (n = 19) received inhalation injury induced by insufflation with smoke derived from burning cotton delivered with a bee smoker. The treatment group, those placed on ECMO at the time of injury (n=6), were systemically heparinized and placed on a venovenous perfusion circuit consisting of a roller pump, membrane oxygenator and heat exchanger. Blood flow rate in the circuit approximated 20-25 per cent of cardiac output. The animals remained on partial venovenous bypass until the termination of the experiment 96 h after injury. All animals in the treatment group survived. The control sheep (n = 7) received inhalation injury alone and had a 100 per cent mortality (P = 0.0015 ECMO vs. control). Ventilatory management of treatment and control groups followed an identical protocol. We have also studied a third group (n = 6) composed of animals receiving inhalation injury with systemic heparinization but not ECMO. This group had a 66 per cent mortality at 96 h. These studies suggest that partial venovenous ECMO may be a valuable form of adjunctive treatment in severe inhalation injury.

Author List

Brown M, Traber DL, Herndon DN, Oldham KT, Traber LD

Author

Keith Oldham MD Emeritus Professor in the Surgery department at Medical College of Wisconsin

MESH terms used to index this publication - Major topics in bold

Animals
Burns, Inhalation
Extracorporeal Circulation
Female
Femoral Vein
Heparin
Oxygenators, Membrane
Respiration
Respiration, Artificial
Sheep
Vena Cava, Superior