Key result
Adult ECMO use expands rapidly for respiratory and cardiac failure despite outpacing current clinical evidence.
Why the study?
Use of extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO) in adults is rapidly expanding worldwide, yet clinical use outpaces the supporting evidence for many current and potential applications.
This review highlights the rapid growth and expanding indications of ECMO in adults with cardiopulmonary disease, emphasizing the need for more robust evidence to support its use.
Clinicians should exercise caution expanding ECMO indications; leaves open key questions requiring rigorous randomized trials to inform practice.
The use of extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO) for both respiratory and cardiac failure in adults is evolving rapidly. Advances in technology and accumulating data are spurring greater interest and explosive growth in ECMO worldwide. Expanding indications and novel strategies are being used. Yet the use of ECMO outpaces the data. The promise of a major paradigm shift for the treatment of respiratory and cardiac failure is tempered by a need for evidence to support many current and potential future uses. The authors review cannulation strategies, indications, and evidence for ECMO in respiratory and cardiac failure in adults as well as potential applications and the impact they may have on current treatment paradigms.
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Abrams et al. (2014) conducted a review in Respiratory and cardiac failure. Extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO) was evaluated. Extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO) for respiratory and cardiac failure in adults is experiencing rapid growth and expanding indications, though its clinical use currently outpaces the evidence.
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