Extracorporeal Support Prognostication-Time to Move the Goal Posts?

Advances in extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO) technology are associated with expanded indications, increased utilization and improved outcome. There is growing interest in developing ECMO prognostication scores to aid in bedside decision making. To date, the majority of available scores have been limited to mostly registry-based data and with mortality as the main outcome of interest. There continues to be a gap in clinically applicable decision support tools to aid in the timing of ECMO cannulation to improve patients' long-term outcomes. We present a brief review of the commonly available adult and pediatric ECMO prognostication tools, their limitations, and future directions.

Automated summary

Advances in ECMO technology have led to expanded indications and increased interest in developing prognostication tools to aid in bedside decision making. Current scores are limited to registry-based data with mortality as the main outcome of interest, highlighting the need for more clinically applicable decision support tools to improve long-term patient outcomes. More research is needed to address the gap in timing ECMO cannulation effectively.