Successful treatment of a pediatric multiple trauma patient with severe traumatic brain injury and treated with extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO): A case report

Abstract

  The indications for extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO) for multiple trauma cases have not been established. We report the case details of a pediatric patient who experienced multiple trauma with severe head injury and was successfully treated with ECMO. The 13‒year‒old boy was injured in a traffic collision with a passenger car. Severe traumatic brain injury, tension pneumothorax, pulmonary contusion, and open fracture of a tibia were observed. Because of the patient’s poor oxygenation and progressive ventilation impairment, veno‒venous ECMO was introduced and anticoagulants were used. The patients’ respiratory condition gradually improved, but the cerebral contusion worsened. The use of ECMO in trauma has not been established, and intracranial hemorrhage may be exacerbated in patients with head trauma, as in this case. ECMO is an effective means of improving a patient’s respiratory status, but the use of anticoagulants in such cases should be considered carefully.