Revisiting extracorporeal membrane oxygenation for ARDS in burns: A case series and review of the literature

Recent reports have recommended against the use of extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO) in critically ill burn patients with acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS) [1,2]. Soussi et al. cited the high mortality rates associated with the use of ECMO in burn patients with severe ARDS to “suggest that the use of ECMO in this setting should not be advised until multicenter randomized controlled trials of ECMO versus conventional therapy are undertaken”. In support of this recommendation, they cited a 50% in-hospital mortality rate among 82 burn-injured patients with severe ARDS n ot treated with ECMO and a 91% in-hospital mortality rate among 11 patients with burn injury treated with ECMO.
Source: Burns : Journal of the International Society for Burn Injuries - Category: Cosmetic Surgery Authors: Source Type: research