Cardiopulmonary bypass: principles and clinical applications

Cardiopulmonary bypass entails the techniques through which perfusionists replace some major functions of the lungs and heart with a mechanical system to support a patient during surgical interventions on the pulmonary or cardiovascular system (Ghosh & Cook, 2009). It involves bypass of the lungs and heart in an open-heart surgery where perfusionists redirect blood getting to the heart via a heart-lung machine before it gets into the arterial circulation. Cardiopulmonary bypass takes the role of the lungs and heart during surgery.

Reasons for Application

Cardiothoracic surgeons conduct cardiopulmonary bypass while repairing cardiac defects. The surgeons need a bloodless and motionless heart to work on, and to attain this, the surgeons stop the motion of the lungs and the heart. While the lungs and the heart remain motionless, there must be a way for blood to flow throughout the body to deliver oxygen and nutrients essential in life. Perfusionists together with surgeons perform Cardiopulmonary bypass and they connect the pump to the body of the patient. Cardiopulmonary bypass is applicable during heart surgery because surgeons cannot operate easily on the pounding heart (Ghosh &, Cook (2009). As a result, CPB takes the function of the lungs and the heart given that it is difficult for surgeons to repair heart defects while the heart is pounding. Surgeries that call for the opening of the heart chambers needs employment of cardiopulmonary bypass to enhance circulation in the course of the surgery. The major function of CPB is to circulate blood for suitable composition to the patient's body to uphold viability of the patient during surgery.

The Procedure

Cardiopulmonary bypass oxygenates and circulates blood for the patient's body while sidestepping the lungs and the heart. The procedure utilizes a heart-lung machine to uphold perfusion to the body tissues and organs of the body while the surgeon operates in a bloodless surgical area. The procedure entails placement of a cannula in femoral vein, vena cava or the right atrium to remove blood from the patient's body (Ghosh & Cook, 2009). The cannula connects to tubing packed with isotonic crystalloid solution. The surgeons warm, cool, and oxygenate the venous blood withdrawn from the body through cannula and then return it to the body. The perfusionists insert the cannula utilized to return oxygenated blood in the ascending aorta or in the femoral artery.