Hospital:
This is a highly advanced therapy system, not without reason called “last-chance therapy”.
The machine will be used in the Department of Anaesthesiology and Intensive Care.
The device spares the lungs and saves the life of a patient for whom all other treatment options, including a ventilator, have already been exhausted. ECMO/ECCO2R is used in cases of severe circulatory or respiratory failure, in patients in the most critical condition, whose lungs and/or heart cease to function. The equipment gives the body time to recover and resume basic vital functions.
Jarosław Luboński – Head of the Department of Anaesthesiology and Intensive Care at the Bolesławiec Health Care Centre:
Especially during the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic, the number of patients whose internal organs were damaged by coronavirus-induced inflammation increased, but we will use this treatment for more than just COVID-19 patients. Acute respiratory failure can be caused, for example, by bacterial pneumonia, septic shock, aspiration, or even acute pancreatitis.
A patient connected to ECMO remains on a ventilator. An undeniable advantage is the possibility of reducing the ventilator settings. Mechanical ventilation is not harmless to the patient’s health, and we try to ensure that it damages the lungs as little as possible.
Two specialists from the Department of Anaesthesiology and Intensive Care have already completed certified training conducted by ELSO, an organisation supporting healthcare workers and scientists involved in the use of ECMO. The remaining members of Jarosław Luboński’s team are undergoing training.
In Lower Silesia, ECMO machines are available – apart from the Bolesławiec Health Care Centre – at the largest academic centres in Wrocław, including the University Clinical Hospital and the Research and Development Centre of the Provincial Specialist Hospital.
The purchase of the equipment was co-financed by the Ministry of Health.