Extracorporeal life support (ECLS) is increasingly used worldwide in patients with life-threatening hemodynamic and / or respiratory conditions. The femoral veno-arterial cannulation, whether percutaneous or surgical, is the simplest and quickest method, yet a number of vascular complications may occur. We present 2 cases in which, despite a well-placed reperfusion cannula in the superior femoral artery, apparent limb ischemia of the cannulated limb developed rapidly after ECLS implantation and was suspected to be due to arterial vasospasm. Both cases were successfully managed with the injection of a vasodilator cocktail of verapamil, nitroglycerin and lidocain directly in the reperfusion cannula.