BackgroundAdult patients receiving extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO) for acuterespiratory failure are generally younger with fewer comorbidities before ICU admission than other critically ill patients. These factors might be associated with less morbidity after hospital discharge. However, few studies compare patient-reported outcomes of ECMO survivors to those of the general ICU population.Research questionWhat are the psychological, health-related quality of life, sleep, swallowing, nutrition, airway, and voice outcomes measured three months after hospital discharge, comparing ICU survivors receiving ECMO to those receiving invasive mechanical ventilation (IMV) only?Study design and methodsProspective observational longitudinal cohort (2015-2023) study recruiting patients attending a post-ICU recovery clinic. Data included demographic/clinical characteristics and self-reported outcomes. We compared outcomes using linear and logistic regression modelling.ResultsWe received patient-reported outcomes from 841/1848 (46%) post-ICU recovery clinic attendees. Of these, 289 (34%) received ECMO, were 13 years younger on average (PWe found no difference in psychological morbidity prevalence and no association of ECMO with suspected PTSD (adjusted-odds ratio (aOR) 0.86, 95% confidence interval (CI) 0.59 to 1.24), controlling for age, sex and APACHE II score. Fewer ECMO patients had mobility issues (EQ-5D-5L mobility 29% vs 47%, P InterpretationExcept for better mobility, patients who received ECMO had similar outcomes after hospital discharge to patients requiring IMV only.
Rose et al. (Sun,) studied this question.