Extracorporeal membrane oxygenation as life-saving bridge for patients with airway obstruction caused by neck and chest tumors to salvage procedure: an in-depth review.

Narrowed or stenotic airways are frequently encountered in emergency practice. Neck and chest tumors-caused airway obstruction usually follow a severe clinical course, necessitating urgent ventilation as a bridge to perform emergency operations. In certain cases, traditional ventilation methods may not safely address complicated airway conditions. In such instances, special cardiopulmonary support becomes necessary to manage both hemodynamics and ventilation for patients. Extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO) is considered a last resort treatment for respiratory failure. When dealing with emergency difficult airway situations, ECMO offers certain advantages over conventional ventilation. However, its effectiveness in managing airway obstruction due to solid tumors located in the neck or chest is not well-established due to limited clinical practice. Published articles about this topic are still limited and primarily rely on case series and reports. As a result, they offer insufficient data and illustrations to fully elucidate emergency issues. In the present article, the authors summarize the existing literature concerning ECMO utility in managing patients with airway obstruction due to solid tumor located in the neck or chest based on PubMed, Web of Science, and other medical databases, to conduct an in-depth review. The authors conducted an analysis of 27 studies, including a total of 54 patients with airway obstruction caused by tumors. All patients underwent surgical relief of airway obstruction with ECMO as ventilatory support. Postoperatively, 87% of the patients (47/54) survived. 7.4% of the patients (4/54) died due to postoperative disease progression, unrelated to ECMO complications. The prognosis of 5.6% of the patients (3/54) could not be obtained. Additionally, the authors present an interesting case series (n=5) based on a real-world research to demonstrate the different outcomes among airway-obstructed patients due to neck and chest masses. In this series, four patients supported by ECMO were successfully discharged postoperatively, while one patient on conventional ventilation died due to respiratory collapse before surgery. Meanwhile, the authors share novel illustrations and clinical figures to supplement the understanding of this condition. The findings presented in this article provide a basis for further studies and can be used to improve management of the patients.