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Use Of Ecmo Versus Conventional Ventilation Patients With Acute Respiratory Distress Syndrome

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The Use of ECMO Versus Conventional Ventilation In Patients With Acute Respiratory Distress Syndrome
Travis Day
Northwest Technical College

Extracorporeal Membrane Oxygenation is a medical modality that provides life support for patients experiencing pulmonary failure, cardiac failure, or both. ECMO is able to maintain oxygenation and perfusion to the body until the native lungs or heart function can be restored. According to Maj (1990) “ECMO is a long term heart and lung bypass technique that has been successfully used since 1975.” ECMO can be divided into two categories; Veno-venous ECMO (VV ECMO) which supports the lungs by oxygenating the blood and returning the oxygenated blood to heart. This …show more content…

It is important to recognize that ECMO is not a therapeutic intervention. ECMO provides cardiac or respiratory support so that the patient is spared the harmful effects of mechanical ventilation such as high airway pressure, high oxygenation, and perfusion impairment while reversible pathophysiologic processes are allowed to resolve either by natural means or by medical or surgical intervention.
One prospective randomized trial compared the effectiveness of ECLS with conventional mechanical ventilation (CMV) in full-term newborns with severe respiratory insufficiency. This was a randomized prospective study performed by O’Rourke (1989) which demonstrated a significant difference in survival between neonates managed with ECLS (97%) and those managed by conventional means (60%). Other studies have demonstrated a significant increase in survival among pediatric respiratory failure patients managed with ECMO when compared to matched patients managed with CMV.

The neonatal ARDS disease processes result in lung pathophysiology associated with pulmonary hypertension and poor oxygenation. Conventional mechanical ventilation, surfactant administration, and nitric oxide administrations are the first modalities used in order to increase the tissue perfusion and respiratory insufficiency. When these interventions fail, ECMO will allow for lower ventilator settings, preventing lung injury caused by the ventilator.

For optimal timing of

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