Extracorporeal life support (ECLS) has come a long way since its inception in the 1970s as a therapy for life threatening pediatric and neonatal respiratory and cardiac problems. It is now considered a standard of care for multiple diseases in pediatrics.
To truly serve the needs of our patient population, there has to be continuing improvement in the long-term outcomes and reduction in the complication rates associated with ECLS. There is a need to use a multipronged strategy to improve the care provided to ECLS patients. Collaborative multicenter research that focuses on newer anticoagulation strategies, patient selection, ventilator strategies, use of newer devices and innovative clinical strategies are essential to attain this goal of improved outcomes. This should be complemented by wider use of the ELSO Registry and other databases to guide therapy. At an institutional level, there is a need to standardize training and education of ECLS provider physicians and specialists to ensure a high level of competency in care of ECLS patients.
This Editorial group would like to use this opportunity to gather the state of art evidence in this series so that it can guide practitioners in improving the long-term outcomes of ECLS, and to outline a roadmap for future research and innovation.
Extracorporeal life support (ECLS) has come a long way since its inception in the 1970s as a therapy for life threatening pediatric and neonatal respiratory and cardiac problems. It is now considered a standard of care for multiple diseases in pediatrics.
To truly serve the needs of our patient population, there has to be continuing improvement in the long-term outcomes and reduction in the complication rates associated with ECLS. There is a need to use a multipronged strategy to improve the care provided to ECLS patients. Collaborative multicenter research that focuses on newer anticoagulation strategies, patient selection, ventilator strategies, use of newer devices and innovative clinical strategies are essential to attain this goal of improved outcomes. This should be complemented by wider use of the ELSO Registry and other databases to guide therapy. At an institutional level, there is a need to standardize training and education of ECLS provider physicians and specialists to ensure a high level of competency in care of ECLS patients.
This Editorial group would like to use this opportunity to gather the state of art evidence in this series so that it can guide practitioners in improving the long-term outcomes of ECLS, and to outline a roadmap for future research and innovation.
