Transferring Patients With Refractory Hypoxemia to a Regional Extracorporeal Membrane Oxygenation Center: Key Considerations for Clinicians

This article provides information essential for health care teams who refer their patients to such centers. The clinical indications for, and the use of, ECMO therapy in the management of refractory hypoxemia is briefly reviewed, followed by a description of how ECMO works to provide gas exchange and tissue perfusion. The primary considerations for circuit management, hemodynamic support, and pulmonary care are described, and significant complications of the therapy are identified. The remainder of the article focuses on the patient care and preparatory activities that occur before and during ECMO initiation, so that health care teams, patients, and their families can be confident of an efficient, safe, and highly skilled transfer of care between institutions.
Source: AACN Advanced Critical Care - Category: Nursing Tags: Symposium Advances in Pulmonary Critical Care Nursing Source Type: research