Impact of sweep gas flow on extracorporeal CO removal (ECCOR).

Background: Veno-venous extracorporeal carbon dioxide (CO) removal (vv-ECCOR) is increasingly being used in the setting of acute respiratory failure. Blood flow rates range in clinical practice from 200 mL/min to more than 1500 mL/min, and sweep gas flow rates range from less than 1 to more than 10 L/min. The present porcine model study was aimed at determining the impact of varying sweep gas flow rates on CO removal under different blood flow conditions and membrane lung surface areas.