Use of Extracorporeal Membrane Oxygenation and Surgical Embolectomy for Massive Pulmonary Embolism in the Emergency Department

Abstract Background Massive pulmonary embolism (PE) carries significant morbidity and mortality with current standard of care modalities. Case Report We present the case of a 63-year-old male status post abdominal surgery 2 weeks before presenting to the emergency department with a massive pulmonary embolism and subsequent acute cardiopulmonary failure. Why Should an Emergency Physician Be Aware of This? Here we describe a case of extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO) deployed in the emergency department as a bridge to embolectomy to successfully treat massive pulmonary embolism. This provided the opportunity to establish a “Code ECMO” protocol and algorithm for PE with cardiopulmonary instability so that patients can be rapidly triaged to the appropriate treatment modality.