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ECMO and Rescue Therapies for Severe Hypoxemia

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Critical Care of COVID-19 in the Emergency Department

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Abstract

Extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO) is a life-sustaining therapy that has been used as a means of rescue treatment for severe hypoxemia. Survival benefit has also been demonstrated with the use of ECMO for ARDS related to other viral infections, and the use of veno-venous ECMO is recommended for COVID-19-associated respiratory failure by organizations including the Extracorporeal Life Support Organization (ELSO), the World Health Organization (WHO), and the Surviving Sepsis Campaign COVID-19 panel. In general, ECMO can afford time to allow other treatments to take effect. Transfer to an ECMO center should be considered when the morbidity and mortality of the underlying conditions outweigh the anticipated morbidity or mortality associated with ECMO.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Surgical Critical Care Fellow at the University of New Mexico, Departments of Surgery and Emergency Medicine, Albuquerque, NM, USA

    Emily Ball

  2. Critical Care and Emergency Medicine at the University of New Mexico, Departments of Emergency and Internal Medicine, Albuquerque, NM, USA

    Keith Azevedo

  3. University of New Mexico Center for Adult Critical Care, University of New Mexico ECMO Program, Department of Emergency Medicine, Albuquerque, NM, USA

    Jonathan Marinaro

  4. Department of Emergency Medicine and Critical Care, University of New Mexico, Albuquerque, NM, USA

    Jonathan Marinaro

Authors
  1. Emily Ball
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  2. Keith Azevedo
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  3. Jonathan Marinaro
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Correspondence to Emily Ball .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Departments of Emergency Medicine, Neurology and Surgery, University of Florida Health Science Center, Jacksonville, FL, USA

    Joseph R. Shiber

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Ball, E., Azevedo, K., Marinaro, J. (2021). ECMO and Rescue Therapies for Severe Hypoxemia. In: Shiber, J.R. (eds) Critical Care of COVID-19 in the Emergency Department. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-85636-6_7

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