Extracorporeal life support as a lifesaving procedure in palliative surgery of stenosing upper tracheal tumor

In the patients with stenotic upper respiratory airways tumor, the tracheal intubation during the surgical resection is sometimes impossible. In these situations, Extracorporeal Membrane Oxygenation appears to be an interesting temporarily alternative to ventilation to allow tumor removal. In this report the authors describe a case of successful resection of tracheal tumor in an 80-year-old female patient in which tracheal intubation was impossible. A circulatory assistance was used to perform the operation. Afterwards, tracheal intubation was easily performed for the rest of the operation.