Extracorporeal membrane oxygenation instead of invasive mechanical ventilation in patients with acute respiratory distress syndrome

摘要

Invasive mechanical ventilation with or without additional extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO) support represents standard treatment for patients with acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS). An "awake ECMO" strategy in order to avoid intubation and mechanical ventilation has been implemented as a bridge to lung transplantation in patients with chronic lung disease [1, 2] but has been used only occasionally in patients with ARDS [3].