Extra-corporeal membrane oxygenation is a technique of prolonged cardiopulmonary support, with the objective of assisting the lungs and/or heart when they start to fail and do not respond to conventional non-invasive treatment. The aim of this study was to evaluate hematological alterations during 12 hours of extra-corporeal membrane oxygenation in animals. Eleven sheep, six males and five females, of the Santa Inês breed with weights ranging from 5.4 to 15kg (12.2±3.1kg) were studied. With the first five animals, Ringer solution with sodium lactate (Ringer - Lactato Glicolabor - Ribeirão Preto - SP) and a 3.5% gelatine solution (Hisocel - Campinas -SP) were used to prime the extra-corporeal circuit in the proportion of 2:1 making a total of 750ml. In the sixth animal the volume of the circuit primer was reduced to 450ml, composed of 250ml of Ringer solution with sodium lactate and 200ml of 3.5% gelatine solution. In the other 5 animals 250ml of total fresh blood anticoagulated with sodium citrate and 200ml of Ringer solution with sodium lactate were employed. The blood tests performed were: hematocrit, haemoglobin, leukocytes, platelets, albumin and globulin. Mann-Whitney and variation analysis tests were used for statistical evaluation and, in the case that the variation analysis gave a significant difference (p < 0.05), the Tukey test was applied. A reduction of all the elements analysed was observed with a significant statistical difference in the values of hematocrit and leukocytes between the two groups. The hematological alterations seen in this study were exclusively due to the excessive supply of fluid volumes.
Extra-corporeal membrane oxygenation; haematological alterations
