Abstract
Extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO) is a technique developed to ensure adequate tissue oxygen delivery in patients suffering cardiac and/or respiratory failure. ECMO can provide this delivery without causing the iatrogenic damage associated with high mechanical ventilation pressures, high fraction of inspired oxygen, or high doses of inotropic medications. Though practitioners use a multitude of other, more “conventional,” therapies for neonatal respiratory failure, only ECMO has been proven in a randomized, controlled, clinical trial to improve both mortality and morbidity among neonates. Though a randomized controlled trial of ECMO in the neonate has been published, to date no trial in the pediatric, adult, or cardiac population is complete. The Extracorporeal Life Support Organization registry provides data on the over 20,000 ECMO cases performed to date and serves as a resource to refine this supportive therapy. This support is not without complications, and it should be used in appropriate populations, with specific criteria for initiation.
- pediatric
- respiratory
- pulmonary
- ECMO
- extracorporeal membrane oxygenation
- oxygen delivery
- persistent pulmonary hypertension of the newborn
- PPHN
- meconium aspiration syndrome
- congenital diaphragmatic hernia
- respiratory failure
Footnotes
- Correspondence: Douglas R Hansell RRT, ECLS Services, Children's Hospital and Clinics, 2525 Chicago Avenue S, Minneapolis MN 55404. E-mail: douglas.hansell{at}childrenshc.org.
Douglas R Hansell RRT presented a version of this report at the 31st Respiratory Care Journal Conference, Current Trends in Neonatal and Pediatric Respiratory Care, August 16-18, 2002, in Keystone, Colorado.
- Copyright © 2003 by Daedalus Enterprises Inc.