Outcomes of Pediatric Patients with Sepsis Managed on Extracorporeal Membrane Oxygenation: An Analysis of the Extracorporeal Life Support Organization Registry

Extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO) support is increasingly used for refractory septic shock. There is a lack of data on the outcomes of children requiring ECMO support for refractory septic shock. Our study objective was to describe the variables associated with survival, risk factors for mortality, and outcomes of children requiring ECMO support for refractory shock. This was retrospective registry study of 340 international centers contributing data to the ELSO Registry, analyzing children <18 years who received ECMO with septic shock, severe sepsis, sepsis, systemic inflammatory response syndrome, toxic shock syndrome, shock associated with infection, and septicemia from any organism from 1990 to 2015. Outcomes were analyzed by categorizing the data into survivors and nonsurvivors. Logistic regression models were used to describe the association of dependent variable and multiple independent variables. A total of 1,928 patients were identified who met the inclusion criteria. In total, 744 (38.5%) of the cohort survived. Survivors in this cohort tend to have a longer duration of ECMO (230 vs. 201 hours, p = 0.005) and shorter time from intubation to ECMO cannulation (87 vs. 116 hours, p = 0.0033) when compared to nonsurvivors. Survivors were also noted to have higher pH, higher serum bicarbonate, higher saturations, and higher systolic, diastolic, and mean arterial pressures compared to nonsurvivors. These results suggest that early initiation of ECMO therapy for refractory sepsis is associated with better patient outcomes. ECMO is unlikely to recover patients once circulatory and metabolic collapse has developed.