The head of the pediatric department at Farwaniya Hospital, Dr. Ahmed Al-Hajj, announced the start of the extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO) in pediatric intensive care in Kuwait, through a medical achievement represented by the first ECMO operation for two children under the age of one year in pediatric intensive care, the first 5 months old and the second 9 months.
A local Arabic daily said, this is in addition to a third case of a ten-year-old girl, done in cooperation between the Adult Intensive Care Department, headed by Dr. Muhammad Shamsah, the Pediatric Intensive Care Unit, Dr. Saad Al-Otaibi, Dr. Walid Hassan, and the technical and nursing staff.
“The operation included endoscopic membrane oxygenation whereby blood is pumped outside the body into an artificial heart-lung machine, which removes carbon dioxide and sends oxygenated blood back to the tissues of the body,” al-Hajj explained.
He indicated that “the ECMO device is used in cases of lung and heart failure, as this procedure allows blood to “bypass” the heart and lungs, allowing these organs to rest and heal.”
Al-Hajj added, “The first case recovered and was successfully separated from the ECMO device, praise be to God. He is recovering, and work continues to treat other cases in intensive care.”
