Successful management of membrane oxygenator failure during cardiopulmonary bypass--the importance of safety algorithm and simulation drills.

With a high risk to time ratio, the advent of cardiopulmonary bypass has facilitated greater advances in technical procedures in cardiac surgery. This, however, has not come without its own complication risk and previous near misses have been reported with regard to various technical aspects of the cardiopulmonary bypass circuit. We present a case of a failed membrane oxygenator and discuss the real-life aspects to managing this complication without added risk to the patient.