EDECMO 43: The Cutdown - a podcast by the EDECMO Hosts - Drs. Joe Bellezzo, Zack Shinar, & Scott Weingart

In this episode,  Alice Hutin of the Paris SAMU talks about the modified cutdown approach to cannula insertion.  She is an emergency physician who is one of four physicians who take call on the pre-hospital ECMO ambulance.  She describes the process of their modified cutdown.  First, incision through the skin is made 2 cm below inguinal crease.  Second, blunt dissection down through the soft tissue.  This is best done with your fingers.  Third, place a needle through the distal skin and visualize it pass into the vessel.  From there, you cannulate as with percutaneous.  Alice’s recent paper shows a 6% failure rate with this technique in skilled hands.

Further episodes of ED ECMO

Further podcasts by the EDECMO Hosts - Drs. Joe Bellezzo, Zack Shinar, & Scott Weingart

Website of the EDECMO Hosts - Drs. Joe Bellezzo, Zack Shinar, & Scott Weingart