MASTER THE MACHINES
— A Clinical Course in Mechanical Circulatory Support, CTICU, and the Cardiac Operating Room —
Cardiopulmonary Bypass
A course on mechanical circulatory support and all things cardiac surgery and intensive care would not be complete without a more comprehensive understanding of cardiopulmonary bypass and the bypass circuit itself. Invented by Dr. John Gibbon in 1953, cardiopulmonary bypass is an integral part of the cardiac operating room and essential for successful cardiac surgery. Run by the perfusion team, bypass circuits can appear to the untrained eye be a complex mess of wires, tubing, buckets, clamps, pumps and more- making it extraordinarily intimidating to those of us who didn't train to run the machine! But fear not! In this section of the "Master the Machines" with the help of some good friends from perfusion, am going to walk you through the bypass circuit as well as other related topics such as cardioplegia, cell saver, steps to going on, and much, much more!
Check out this sample excerpt from the full-length bypass circuit walkthrough! A taste of how you'll learn the circuit with me!
Learning Objectives:
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To learn the different parts of the bypass circuit, what they do, where they connect to, and how the blood moves from the patient through the circuit and back to the patient