Practical approach to confirm femoral artery patency after percutaneous closure for veno-arterial extracorporeal membrane oxygenation decannulation.

Background: We describe a technique to assess blood flow distal to the decannulation site after deployment of Perclose ProGlide (Abbott Vascular, Abbott Park, Ill) in patients on femoral veno-arterial extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (VA-ECMO) support.

Technique: An antegrade distal perfusion catheter was placed in all patients, and decannulation was primarily performed at bedside (N = 11/12). With the VA-ECMO circuit switched off, a needle was inserted into the arterial tubing, passed through the femoral arterial cannula into the artery. The arterial cannula was removed over a wire and the previously placed Proglide Perclose sutures were secured. Back bleeding from the antegrade distal perfusion catheter, confirmed using a three-way connector, indicated blood flow to the superficial femoral artery. This was followed by confirmation of blood flow to the lower leg using a Doppler ultrasound. Hemostasis of the antegrade perfusion catheter was achieved through manual compression.

Results: We implemented this technique in 12 patients with a technical success rate of 100%. There were no ipsilateral leg ischemia, bleeding, pseudoaneurysm, or infection after decannulation.

Conclusions: This technique allows prompt assessment of blood flow to the distal leg immediately following arterial decannulation.