Question

For how long can a heart lung machine be used?

(a) 4 hours

(b) 6 hours

(c) 8 hours

(d) 10 hours

This question was addressed to me by my college director while I was bunking the class.

I want to ask this question from Organization of Theaters in division Anaesthesia of Clinical Science

Answer 1

The correct choice is (b) 6 hours

Explanation: A heart lung machine or rather a cardiopulmonary bypass machine is used during a cardiac surgery. The machine acts like the heart, it receives oxygenated blood from the lungs and sends it to the body. It receives deoxygenated blood from the body and sends it to the lungs. However, since its a machine, various problems like clotting, leakage, air bubble etc may happen so it is recommended that the machine is not used for more than six hours. Under extreme precautions and severely critical cases, it can be used for ten hours.