Elsevier, Injury, 9(45), p. 1509-1511, 2014
DOI: 10.1016/j.injury.2014.06.008
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A 27-year-old man with hemorrhagic shock and acute cardiac tamponade due to a stab in the chest underwent successful resuscitation and surgical repair of the right ventricular perforation thanks to the use of extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO) in the emergency department. To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this is the first report around the use of ECMO to rescue a victim of a penetrating cardiac trauma. The physicians who have portable ECMO device should be aware of this option when a life-threatening internal bleeding in hemodynamically unstable patients could be quickly controlled by surgery, even if performed in ill-suited settings.