Short Term Outcome of Veno Venous Extracorporeal Membrane Oxygenation in Patients of ARDS Presenting at Tertiary Care Center – An Observational Study

OBJECTIVES: Acute Respiratory Distress Syndrome (ARDS) is a severe and potentially fatal condition characterized by inflammation and damage to the lungs. Veno-venous (VV) Extracorporeal Membrane Oxygenation (ECMO) is a form of life support that can be used in the management of ARDS. This study was done to evaluate the short-term outcome of VV ECMO in patients of ARDS presenting at our institute. DESIGN: Ambispective Observational Study SETTING: This ambispective observational study was carried out on patients with severe ARDS on VV ECMO admitted to the Intensive Care Unit (ICU). Parameters studied included duration of pre-ECMO and total duration of mechanical ventilation, duration of ECMO, length of stay in ICU, length of hospital stay, and in-hospital mortality from the case records. The APACHE II, SOFA and Murray scores were also recorded. PARTICIPANTS: All patients who were placed on VV ECMO for severe ARDS. INTERVETION: It was an onservational study where only patients on VV ECMO were studied. MEASUREMENTS AND MAIN RESULTS: The mean age of the ARDS patients in our study was 48.70±12.06 years. Out of 70 study patients, 41 were male and 29 were female. Most common indication for VV ECMO was pneumonia, followed by sepsis. Rate of mortality was significantly higher in patients with pneumonia (44.7%) and sepsis (44.4%). Mean duration of mechanical ventilation and mean duration of ECMO was 21.86±13.19 days and 16.35±10.11 days, respectively. The mean duration of ICU and hospital stay in our study was 23.26±12.25 days and 27.33±14.44 days, respectively. Proportion of survivors (58.6%) were significantly higher than non survivors (41.4%). CONCLUSION: VV ECMO can be used as a treatment option for patients with severe ARDS who are failing conventional mechanical ventilation.