VV ECMO, an advanced heart and lung system has saved a post-Covid ARDS patient’s life at VPS Lakeshore Hospital, Kochi. After 95 days in the hospital and 52 days of these on VV ECMO for severe COVID ARDS (COVID Pneumonia) Mr. Aneesh.V, 31 year old young chartered accountant got discharged on Monday 6th of December 2021.
The patient was also the first retrieval case on VV ECMO from another hospital in Kerala. On 02/9/2021, the retrieval team of VPS Lakeshore successfully initiated VV ECMO on the patient in Thrissur and shifted him to VPSLakeshore for further treatment.
It was challenging for the treating doctors and staff as he weighed more than 100kg and had Barotrauma, pneumothorax (collapsed lungs), pneumopericardium (air around the heart), and Pneumomediastinum (air leak syndrome).
During the course of the treatment, he developed retroperitoneal bleed (the accumulation of blood in the retroperitoneal space) from the femoral catheter site which resulted in a huge haematoma (an abnormal collection of blood outside of a blood vessel) and hypotension from which he survived.
Along with covid pneumonia he had sepsis, fungal infection, and cannula associated infection and all were managed with precise care.
He was decannulated after 52 days from VV ECMO but still continued to be on ventilator support for a few more weeks to stabilize his saturation level.
At present, he is undergoing rehabilitation. At the time of discharge, all his blood parameters were normal and showed good cardiac and liver function. And his lungs have recovered from the initial stage.
The team who managed Mr Aneesh includes Dr. Sujith D.S( Cardiac Surgeon), Dr. M.S. Nebhu (Cardiac Anesthesiologist), Dr. Sandhya, Mr. Geo (Perfusionist) Mr. Suresh (Perfusionist), Ms Saumya (OT in charge and staff) Ms Biji (ICU in charge) and staff, Mr . Amal (Anesthesia), Ms Manju (Chief Nutritionist), and Mr. Sadiq (Physiotherapist).
