The innovative **Extracorporeal Cardio-Pulmonary Resuscitation (eCPR)** technique was used to revive a 24-year-old Army jawan whose heart had stopped beating for about 1.5 hours, marking a great medical accomplishment at AIIMS Bhubaneswar. The jawan was in severe condition when he arrived at the hospital after being referred on October 1 due to heart failure. He suffered a heart arrest shortly after being admitted. When his heart failed to beat again after 40 minutes of traditional CPR, the medical staff had to decide whether to proclaim him dead or try a novel technique.
As a last resort, eCPR—a combination of conventional cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) and **Extracorporeal Membrane Oxygenation (ECMO)** technology—was selected. In order to redirect the patient’s blood to an external device that oxygenates and pumps it back into the body, a catheter is inserted into the patient’s big blood vessels. eCPR delivers oxygen to important organs while avoiding the heart and lungs, giving them time to rest and recuperate. Since the process necessitates prompt and accurate administration, it is usually carried out in specialized facilities equipped with the required knowledge and equipment.
Eighty minutes after the cardiac arrest, the AIIMS Bhubaneswar team began eCPR under the direction of adult ECMO specialist and intensivist Dr. Srikant Behera. Along with medical experts from a range of specialties, the team includes Dr. Krishna Mohan Gulla, Dr. Sandip Kumar Panda, Dr. Siddharth Sathia, Dr. Sangeeta Sahoo, and Dr. Manas R. Panigrahi. The patient’s heart started beating again after 40 minutes of eCPR, albeit erratically. His cardiac function steadily improved over the course of the following thirty hours. After 96 hours, he was successfully weaned off the ECMO machine, which is evidence of the medical team’s expertise and commitment.
Dr. Behera emphasized that although electrocardiography (eCPR) is a difficult operation, it is a major development in the treatment of cardiac arrests, particularly those that are typically deadly. An important turning point in Odisha’s medical history, this remarkable recovery shows how effective eCPR is in saving lives that were previously believed to be gone.
Thanks to the knowledge, cooperation, and dedication of the multidisciplinary team at AIIMS Bhubaneswar, the patient who had been in critical condition is now on the mend. For other patients with similar life-threatening circumstances, the effective use of eCPR in this instance is hailed as a critical care breakthrough.
SOURCE :
TIMES OF INDIA
