Extracorporeal membrane oxygenation in adults: when life support alone is just not enough

Extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO) is a potentially life-saving rescue strategy for patients with severe, refractory respiratory and/or cardiac failure despite maximal ventilatory, pharmacological and/or mechanical support. Although used relatively widely in paediatric intensive care, its use in adults until almost a decade ago was infrequent. Technological advances and an increase in experience and understanding have resulted in improvements in outcome from ECMO support, leading to wider use of this technology in adult intensive care. There are, however, important considerations in the follow-up care of patients who have had ECMO support.