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Perfusionist |
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Perfusionist |
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 A perfusionist is a health professional trained to operate a heart-lung machine that temporarily takes over a patient's respiratory and/or circulatory functions during open heart surgery. During many types of open heart surgery, the patient's heart is stopped so that it is easier for the surgeon to work on. The patient's blood is diverted away from the heart and lungs into a heart-lung machine. The heart-lung machine takes blood out of the body, oxygenates the blood and then returns the blood to the patient. In effect, the machine assumes the function of both the heart and the lungs. The perfusionist is responsible for operating the machine during surgery, monitoring the altered circulatory process closely, taking appropriate corrective action when abnormal situations arise and keeping both the surgeon and the anesthesiologist fully informed. In addition to the life support responsibilities during cardiac surgery, the perfusionist often provides services for other medical specialties. Long term life support such as left heart bypass and extracorporeal membrane oxygenation are sub-specialties of the perfusionist. Support of the patient's circulation often is carried out beyond the operating room environment into post operative units. They are also responsible for intra-operative autotransfusion. This is the recovery and cleansing of blood lost during surgery so that it may be retransfused to the patient as soon as it is lost. |
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© 2003-2008 by Perfusion Associates, Inc. |
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