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CASE REPORT article

Front. Cardiovasc. Med.

Sec. Intensive Care Cardiovascular Medicine

Emergency Repair of Proximal Hard-Tube Connector Crack during Veno-Arterial Extracorporeal Membrane Oxygenation Support: A Case Report

Provisionally accepted
Fengyun YouFengyun You1Yanping WeiYanping Wei2Jing ZhengJing Zheng3Xiu JiangXiu Jiang4Ying LinYing Lin4Meizhen ZouMeizhen Zou4Bin LinBin Lin4Yang LinYang Lin4Jun KeJun Ke1*Jianghu ChenJianghu Chen5*
  • 1Shengli Clinical Medical College of Fujian Medical University, Fuzhou, China
  • 2Nursing Department of School and Hospital of Stomatology, Fujian Medical University, Fuzhou, China
  • 3Fuzhou University Affiliated Provincial Hospital, Shengli Clinical Medical College of Fujian Medical University, Fuzhou, China
  • 4Fuzhou University Affiliated Provincial Hospital, Fuzhou, China
  • 5Shengli Clinical Medical College of Fujian Medical University, Fuzhou University Affiliated Provincial Hospital, Fujian Provincial Hospital, Fuzhou, China

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Background: Veno-arterial extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (V-A ECMO) is critical for patients with severe cardiac or respiratory failure. Circuit damage, particularly at the proximal hard tube connector, can lead to complications such as blood leakage and hemodynamic instability. This case report examines the repair of a crack in the proximal hard tube connector during V-A ECMO treatment. Case Presentation: A 70-year-old female receiving peripheral V-A ECMO support via femoral cannulation for acute heart failure suffered a crack in the proximal hard tube connector, causing arterial blood leakage. The team performed an emergency repair using bone wax while maintaining low-flow ECMO operation. The repair was successful, and V-A ECMO support was continued without interruption, with stable hemodynamics. Conclusion: Bone wax proved effective for repairing the V-A ECMO circuit crack in this case. The low-flow operation ensured uninterrupted V-A ECMO support and maintained hemodynamic stability, offering an alternative to full circuit replacement in similar cases.

Keywords: bone wax repair, Emergency repair, hard tube connector crack, low-flow operation, V-A ECMO

Received: 17 Sep 2025; Accepted: 16 Feb 2026.

Copyright: © 2026 You, Wei, Zheng, Jiang, Lin, Zou, Lin, Lin, Ke and Chen. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.

* Correspondence:
Jun Ke
Jianghu Chen

Disclaimer: All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article or claim that may be made by its manufacturer is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.

Supplementary Material