RT Book, Section A1 Hoffman, Jean W. A1 Hoffman, Jordan R. H. A2 Reichman, Eric F. SR Print(0) ID 1159799021 T1 Extracorporeal Membrane Oxygenation T2 Reichman's Emergency Medicine Procedures, 3e YR 2018 FD 2018 PB McGraw-Hill Education PP New York, NY SN 9781259861925 LK accessemergencymedicine.mhmedical.com/content.aspx?aid=1159799021 RD 2024/03/29 AB Extracorporeal life support (ECLS) has been used as a rescue therapy for patients presenting with acute cardiopulmonary failure. The use of ambulatory extracorporeal support parallels the growth and development of cardiopulmonary bypass during open heart surgery over the past 40 years. The first successful use of a cardiopulmonary bypass circuit occurred in the early 1950s.1 It was not until 1971 that an extracorporeal membrane oxygenator was used for an extended period to support a patient with “shock-lung syndrome.”2 Portable extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO) was used in the late 1970s to rescue 39 patients with a variety of conditions (e.g., cardiac trauma, cardiogenic shock after myocardial infarction, drug overdose, and massive pulmonary embolus).3 Portable cardiopulmonary support was largely abandoned due to poor outcomes after early reports.