In extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO), blood is pumped outside of the body to a heart-lung machine. The machine removes carbon dioxide and sends oxygen-rich blood back to the body. ECMO works by temporarily drawing blood from the body to allow artificial oxygenation of the red blood cells and removal of carbon dioxide.

Understanding the Context

What is ECMO? ECMO (extracorporeal membrane oxygenation) is a type of artificial life support. It can help you when your lungs and heart aren’t functioning correctly. An ECMO machine constantly pumps blood out of your body and then sends it through devices that add oxygen and remove carbon dioxide.

Key Insights

It then pumps the blood back into your body. Overview: The use of extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO) is becoming commonplace worldwide in ICUs for the care of patients with respiratory and/or cardiac failure. ECMO is a form of life support if you have serious lung or heart failure, injuries, or the heart or lungs are too weak to work properly. What is ECMO (extracorporeal membrane oxygenation)? ECMO is a form of life support for people with life-threatening illness or injury that affects the function of their heart or lungs.

Final Thoughts

ECMO keeps blood moving through the body and keeps blood gasses (oxygen and carbon dioxide) in balance. The ECMO machine pumps blood from the patient’s body to an artificial lung (oxygenator) that adds oxygen to it and removes carbon dioxide. Thus, it replaces the function of the person’s own lungs. Extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO, also known as ECLS) uses a pump to take over the work of the heart and an oxygenator to take over the work of the lungs.