Cannulation under local or regional anesthesia for the “salvage” cardiac patient

Venovenous Extracorporeal Life Support Via Percutaneous Cannulation in 94 Patients

“…Extrathoracic cannulation for partial cardiopulmonary bypass was described in the late 1960's as a safe method for the stabilization of critically ill cardiac surgery patients during the induction of general anesthesia. [11][12][13] This technique generally involved the cutdown and cannulation of the femoral artery and vein under local anesthesia. In the 1970's, Bartlett et al 14 described a technique of extrathoracic cannulation for venoarterial bypass to support gas exchange in newborn infants with severe respiratory failure.…”