Acute exacerbation of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease treated by extracorporeal carbon dioxide removal

To the Editor: Acute exacerbation of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (AECOPD) patients often required mechanical ventilation support. But ventilator-related side effects are still inevitable, leading to treatment failure. The extracorporeal carbon dioxide removal (ECCO2R) technique drains blood to artificial membrane lungs, performing oxygenation and removing carbon dioxide without mechanical ventilation. ECCO2R has been widely used outside China, but there is no official report of its use in China. Recently, we treated two AECOPD patients using ECCO2R.