Part of the Core Critical Care series, this book is an easy-to-read guide for the aspiring ECMO clinician. Doctors, nurses, physiotherapists, dieticians, pharmacists and all other key members of the team will learn the basics required to better understand the technology and care of the patient.

This book explores the unique aspects involved in the management of ECMO patients such as physiopathology and indications, setting up the device, monitoring ECMO and the patient, troubleshooting, ethical aspects and rehabilitation. For the past eight years, management of acute heart failure and Acute Respiratory Distress Syndrome (ARDS) patients has been improved by the development of short-term assistance devices, with ECMO as a first line treatment. This highly informative book provides essential insights for ICU nurses at ECMO centers around the world, who face the substantial challenges involved in the management of ECMO patients. Above all, it meets their training needs with regard to bedside monitoring for these patients, which has become a major issue. The editors and most of the contributors serve at La Pitié-Salpétrière ICU, France, which, in terms of the number of admissions and major publications produced, is one of the world’s leading authorities on ECMO.

ECMO has in the last year advanced rapidly in its prevalence and ease of use. It is becoming the standard of care for the management of severe ARDS, however, its adoption outside of relatively few large hospitals in primarily very wealthy nations has been limited. This is in part improving as the cost of the equipment and associated resources decline, however a significant barrier to its use is the expertise required to manage the patient. There are only a few existing reference books on the topic but they suffer from being too comprehensive, too basic, too theoretical or else they are too expensive for the average practitioner or hospital system to use as general reference material for training. This book is designed to be a practical guide to the management of ECMO by the entire ECMO team from specialists to physicians. It discusses the core physiological principles necessary to the understanding of its management, but also then discusses how to practically apply these principles on a day-to-day basis. It is structured in a focused and concise manner with an emphasis on translating theory to actual equipment and patients through the use of visuals. The book is divided into twelve individual sections that each contain various chapters. The first section provides an introduction to the book itself as well as the authors. The second section explains the history of ECMO. The third section focuses on program development while the fourth section is all about patient selection. The fifth section details physics and technology while the sixth and seventh sections break down the physiology. The eighth section describes cannulation and configuration while the ninth focuses on complications and emergencies. The remaining three sections detail patient management, pharmacology and anticoagulation and weaning and decannulation. Written by experts in the field, ECMO: A Practical Guide to Management targets bedside providers such as physicians and mid-level providers, however it is also a useful reference for nurses and respiratory therapists on the team. While it contains sufficient advanced material to keep more seasoned practitioners engaged, it also focuses on only the necessary and practical principles to appeal to a variety of readers.

This book presents a concise, evidence-based review of extracorporeal life support (ECLS) for adult diseases. It describes the use of ECLS with patients who are experiencing severe hypoxemic respiratory failure (ARDS and pneumonia), ventilatory failure (status asthmaticus and COPD), cardiogenic shock and circulatory or gas exchange failure following complications in cardiothoracic surgery, as well as its use as a bridge to lung transplant. Historically, clinicians have used ECLS as a last resort; however, this text details the technological improvements, evidence of improved outcomes and adverse consequences of alternative treatments that are causing this modality to be more commonly adopted. Topics include a description of the complex physiology and technology underlying ECLS; the evidence base for its use in specific clinical conditions; vascular access techniques; daily management of the circuit and patient; guidance regarding the weaning and decannulation process and recommendations for crisis management and rehabilitation related to ECLS. Extracorporeal Life Support for Adults is ideal reading for practicing physicians, nurses, perfusion specialists, therapists and critical care trainees who are considering whether to refer their patients for ECLS or are already providing ECLS and are seeking a practical reference to best practices and updated information.