Prevention of distal limb ischemia during cardiopulmonary support via femoral cannulation.

The indications for prolonged cardiopulmonary support or extracorporeal membrane oxygenation are expanding. A potential serious complication of these techniques is distal limb ischemia. Techniques have been developed to provide the distal limb with blood flow. Unfortunately, specialized skills and materials are required. We describe a simple method of providing distal limb perfusion using ordinary pressure tubing and a standard cordis catheter. This technique is capable of reproducing normal superficial femoral artery blood flow.