CARDIOVASCULAR ENGINEERING Journal for Extracorporeal Circulation, Assist Devices,Transplantation and Artificial Organs
	Volume 1, 1996, No 1

ECMO-Management in the Neonatal and Pediatric Patient

J. Tardi

Abstract:
Extracorporeal Membrane Oxygenation (ECMO) is a modified cardiopulmonary bypass technique that has been successfully utilized in the United States since 1975. Candidates for ECMO include infants and children suffering from acute, reversible, cardiac or respiratory failure that is refractory to conventional medical treatment. According to the Extracorporeal Life Support Organization (ELSO), the majority of centers in the United States utilize respiratory care practitioners and registered nurses to staff their ECMO-patients. Perfusion involvement at these centers is limited to initiation and discontinuation of ECMO. One of the categories monitored by ELSO is the mechanical complication rate of ECMO-systems. To date, ELSO has reported 12195 neonatal and pediatric ECMO-cases. There have been 6380 incidents of mechanical complications reported that have occured during those cases (52% incidence - reported in 1995). At this writing, our own institution has performed over 86 neonatal and pediatric cases ranging in duration from 74 hours to 1350 hours. The incidence of mechanical complication was 3% (0% related mortality). We attribute this low rate directly to the level of training and perfusionist involvement in our ECMO-team.

Keywords:
ECMO, reversible cardiac and respiratory failure, mechanical complications, perfusionist

Address for Correspondence:

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