AbstractExtracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO) is a revamping techniques of conventional cardiopulmonary bypass which provide cardiopulmonary support. It is a form of extra corporeal life support when the persons heart and lungs are fail to provide gas exchange and circulation. In this system a cannula is placed in a large vein which
carries deoxygenated blood from patient to a gas exchange device where blood enriched with oxygen and returned to the patient through other circuit. ECMO does not a definitive treatment option for the underlying disease, but it provides physiologic cardiopulmonary support to reversible aspects of the disease process and it promote recovery.
Currently the indications for ECMO support ranging from acute respiratory failure to acute cardiac failure when patient is unresponsive to conventional treatments and using it for wide patient subsets involving neonates to adults.1 The modes of support are either veno-venous or veno-arterial ECMO.
Keywords: Extracorporeal Membrane Oxygenation; Physiology; Venous–Arterial ECMO; Venous–Venous extracorporeal membrane oxygenation; Oxygenation.