An extracorporeal medical procedure is any medical procedure which is carried outside the body.

Extracorporeal procedures are usually associated to other medical or surgical procedures, and may classified according to its degree of invasiveness:

• non-invasive, such as extracorporeal shock wave lithotripsy (EWSL);
• minimally-invasive, such as extracorporeal circulation in an apheresis machine during donation or during hemodialysis;
• invasive procedure, such as extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO) and assisted blood circulation (heart-lung machine) during open heart surgery.

External links

• Extracorporeal Circulation. MedicalGlossary.org