ECMO Center Karolinska
ECMO – Extracorporeal Membrane Oxygenation - is a modified heart-lung machine which will oxygenate the blood outside the body through a membrane. Patients with respiratory failure are treated with venous-venous ECMO and patients with cardiac-failure/multiple organ failure are treated with venous–arterial ECMO.
ECMO doctor on-call, ECMO Center, Karolinska,
telephone: +46 8 123 780 50
Common diagnoses that might need ECMO-treatment
Newborns
Meconium aspiration, Sepsis, Congenital diaphragmatic hernia, Pneumothorax or other causes that may lead to decreased saturation.
Children and Adults
Sepsis and septic shock are currently some of the most common diagnoses, Pneumonia (viral or bacterial), ARDS, Myocarditis, Leukaemia (special criteria), Pneumothorax. All other diseases that cause decreased lung and heart function and that are life threatening but where the outcome is expected to be good, if the underlying disease has the time to heal.
Treatment commonly takes between one week to several weeks.
Average treatment time for neonates is 9 days.
Average treatment time for children and adults is 15 days.
Consultations
We are always more than happy to give consultations over the phone. Through these consultations we constantly learn more about different patient categories. It is also easier for us to plan potential transports during a calmer stage rather than in a panic situation. Of course there is no cost involved in these consultations. We will make a patient note after the consultation, for this reason we will need the patients name, date of birth, weight etc.
Transport of patients to Karolinska
If the patient is too unstable to be transported on a ventilator the ECMO-team will come to you and start the ECMO-treatment in your unit. It usually takes about four to five hours from the time the decision has been made until ECMO-treatment can be started.
When ECMO retrieval involves air transport we will need your assistance in getting transport from the airport in your city to your hospital. This is often easier for you to arrange as you have better knowledge on local transport. We need a big enough transport vehicle that can take four people and 350 kg of equipment. Going back to the airport we need a big enough ambulance that can take us and the patient. It is important that you can load both the pump and the patient together through the same door in the ambulance.
We have a list of preparations that we need you to help us with before we arrive.
ECMO Preparation Checklist
We try to bring our own scrub/theatre nurse but if we are unable to do so our surgeon will need assistance from one of your scrub/threatre nurses.
For patients that live outside the Stockholm county council a special treatment referral is needed.
For overseas patients we require that the referral center involved provide a commitment of payment for costs related to treatment.
Relatives
If space is available we arrange for family members to stay in the family rooms here at the hospital. If space is not available in the family rooms, relatives will stay at a hotel or inn near the hospital. We will assist family members with their housing arrangements.
Contact Information ECMO
Contact information
For direct consultation call the ECMO doctor on-call at:
+46 8 123 780 50
ECMO ward
Karolinska University Hospital
Akademiska stråket 14 Floor 8
Phone: +46 8 123 780 00
Head of Department
Jonas Berner Phone: +46 8 123 772 49
Medical Director
Lars Falk Phone: +46 8 123 740 40
Nurse unit manager
Guillerma Björndahl
Phone: +46 8 123 725 95
Nurse unit manager
Henrik Bucht
Phone: +46 8 123 708 86
Admin.coordinator
Rita Bexar
Phone: +46 8 123 780 16
Admin.coordinator
Tanja Dobrosavljevic
Phone: +46 8 123 780 58
Postal address ECMO Center
F8:77 Karolinska University Hospital Akademiska stråket 14 S-171 76 Stockholm SWEDEN
E-mail: