Bhubaneswar, July 30 (UDN): AIIMS Bhubaneswar has recorded a significant achievement in advanced critical care by successfully treating a 49-year-old woman police officer from Odisha’s Jharsuguda district after she spent 36 days on life-saving veno-venous extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (VV-ECMO) support for severe Acute Respiratory Distress Syndrome (ARDS).
The patient was initially admitted to a private hospital in Bhubaneswar on April 18, 2026, after developing severe pneumonia. Despite receiving intensive treatment, including mechanical ventilation in the prone position, her condition continued to worsen as her oxygen levels dropped to life-threatening levels.
With conventional treatment proving ineffective, she was referred to AIIMS Bhubaneswar on May 7 for advanced critical care. She arrived at the Medical Intensive Care Unit (MICU) around midnight in a critically unstable condition, suffering from profound hypoxemia.
A multidisciplinary team led by Dr. Srikant Behera, Intensive Care Medicine specialist and ECMO expert, immediately initiated VV-ECMO, a highly specialised form of life support that temporarily takes over the function of the lungs, allowing them time to heal.
The patient remained on ECMO support continuously for 36 days, from May 7 to June 12. Throughout this period, the MICU team provided round-the-clock critical care, carefully managing complications while monitoring her gradual recovery.
As her lung function improved, doctors successfully removed her from ECMO support on June 12. She was taken off mechanical ventilation on June 27, and her tracheostomy tube was removed two days later. On July 6, she was shifted from the MICU to the General Medicine ward, marking another milestone in her recovery. By July 18, she no longer required supplemental oxygen.
Having regained full independence in her daily activities, the patient was discharged from the hospital on July 24.
Congratulating the medical team, AIIMS Bhubaneswar Executive Director Dr. Ashutosh Biswas described the case as a landmark achievement in critical care medicine. He said the successful management of such a prolonged ECMO case reflects the institute’s growing expertise in handling complex respiratory emergencies and reinforces AIIMS Bhubaneswar’s position as a leading centre for advanced intensive care and extracorporeal life support in eastern India.
The successful outcome highlights the importance of timely referral, multidisciplinary teamwork, and advanced life-support technologies in saving critically ill patients with severe respiratory failure.
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