Search Tag: extracorporeal life support
Extracorporeal Life Support for Patients with Acute Respiratory Failure
2019 18 Aug
Millions of people with acute respiratory failure are hospitalised every year. Nearly half of these patients require invasive mechanical ventilation. In-hospital mortality in these patients is quite high. Despite the fact that mechanical ventilation is the primary management tool for such patients, it is associated with major complications that increase... Read more
Implementing ECCO2R and vv-ECMO in non-academic centres
2018 16 Oct
Shares experiences of implementing extracorporeal life support in a non-academic hospital. Acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS) is a life-threatening disorder characterised by severe impairment of gas exchange. The most common causes are pneumonia, sepsis and acute pancreatitis. It is accurately defined in the Berlin definitions... Read more
Nomenclature in extracorporeal life support - expert consensus
2018 17 Apr
Extracorporeal life support (ECLS) is a rapidly expanding field. As the technique of ECLS has significantly improved and newer skills developed, complexity in terminology and advances in cannula design led to some misunderstanding and inconsistency in definitions both in clinical practice and scientific research. Thus, the Extracorporeal Life Support... Read more
Extracorporeal life support: evidence-based practice needed
2018 06 Feb
The use of extracorporeal life support (ECLS) in adults has grown exponentially in the last decade, fuelled in large part by technological advances in cardiopulmonary bypass equipment, from which ECLS was principally derived. Several specific events also generated much interest in ECLS, including the perceived need for advanced respiratory support... Read more
Increasing Use of Extracorporeal Life Support Systems
2016 24 Dec
Extracorporeal life support (ECLS) technologies are now more frequently used at centres around the world, according to researchers who analysed data from an international registry. Rate of growth in ECLS use is fastest among adults with respiratory failure. The findings are reported in the ASAIO Journal . See Also : European Perfusionists... Read more
Accidental Hypothermia - How to Manage
2016 27 Sep
Managing patients with accidental hypothermia with and without cardiac arrest is covered in a recently published state-of-the-art review, endorsed by the International Commission for Mountain Emergency Medicine. Extracorporeal life support is the “treatment of choice” in patients with unstable circulation or cardiac arrest. Peter Paal and colleagues... Read more
Out-of-Hospital Cardiac Arrest: Can Outcomes Improve?
2016 30 Aug
Patients who experience out-of-hospital cardiac arrest (OHCA) rarely survive. Only five percent survive, and even fewer (1-3%) survive with no or minimal neurological sequelae. Experts were on hand at the European Society of Cardiology Congress in Rome this week to sum up current best practice. Alain Combes, Professor of Intensive Care Medicine, University... Read more
European Perfusionists in ECLS/ECMO: Roles & Responsibilities
2016 11 Mar
Since its first clinical use in the 1950s, the set-up and management of the heart-lung machine (HLM) has been the responsibility of the perfusionist, who has a documented competency in every facet of extracorporeal technology because of their theoretical and practical training. In contrast, when this technology leaves the operating room to provide... Read more