Extracorporeal Membrane Oxygenation in Burn Patients With Severe Inhalation Injuries: A Case Report

High-grade inhalational injuries are challenging to manage and increase the complexity and risk of respiratory dysfunction in burn patients. Treatment of these injuries typically requires aggressive supportive care, but in severe cases, conventional therapies do not provide adequate respiratory support. Extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO) has been increasingly utilized in clinical scenarios where patients require respiratory support; however, it has been used sparingly in burn patients. We present the case of a 52-year-old female patient with grade 4 inhalational injury who developed severe refractory hypoxemia and subsequent circuit clot formation, successfully detected and managed with venovenous ECMO (VV-ECMO). During ECMO support, circuit clot formation occurred but was promptly detected and effectively managed, highlighting both the utility of VV-ECMO in high-grade inhalational injuries with refractory hypoxemia and the importance of vigilant circuit monitoring.