What Do Perfusionists Do?A Perfusionist, also known as a Clinical Perfusionist or Cardiovascular Perfusionist, is a highly trained Health Care Professional who operates the Heart-Lung Bypass machine and associated technology during cardiac (heart) and other surgeries that require cardiopulmonary bypass support. The perfusionist's main responsibility is to support the physiological and metabolic needs of the cardiac surgical patient so that the cardiac surgeon may operate on a still, unbeating heart. This is accomplished through the utilization of the heart-lung machine, as well it's associated components of an oxygenator, filters, reservoirs and tubing. The perfusionist is solely responsible for the circulatory and respiratory functions of the heart-lung machine. In addition, there is a spectrum of physiologic parameters such as:
that are constantly monitored by the perfusionist that ensures that the circulatory and respiratory needs of the patient are being met. Perusionists are also responsible for the management of intravenous fluids, blood products and delivery of anesthesia and vasoactive medications during the bypass period. All this allows the Cardiac Surgeon to focus on the surgical procedure and less on the immediate needs of the patient. Clinical Cardiovascular Perfusionists are also specialists in other extracorporeal and blood related procedures such as Autologous Blood collection and processing, implementation and management of the Intra-Aortic Balloon Pump(IABP), adult and infant Extracorporeal Membrane Oxygenation(ECMO), Isolated Limb Perfusion, and Hyperthermic Chemotherapeutic Intraperitoneal Lavage . In many tertiary hospitals, perfusionists are also key personnel in placing and managing patients on Ventricular Assist Devices as bridge to recovery or Heart Transplantation and supporting patients receiving lung or liver transplants.
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