ECMO support can help severely affected COVID-19 patients

Extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO) support can help in treating patients whose lungs are completely affected due to COVID-19, said Mohamed Rela, chairman and managing director, Dr. Rela Institute and Medical Centre (RIMC) on Monday.

He was speaking at a function organised to sign a memorandum of understanding (MoU) between RIMC and KIMS Hospitals, located in Telangana, to set up a Comprehensive Centre of Excellence for Heart and Lung Transplant.

He said if a person’s lungs were affected 100% due to COVID-19, putting the person on ventilator support will not help. “In such cases, ECMO support can be used as a bridge to either help lungs recover or until a transplant is possible,” he said.