Some people have stayed attached to an ECMO machine for as long as 600 days. And unlike a ventilator, you can talk while you’re on it.
What’s tricky about it? You don’t turn it off until the patient’s wealth had been sucked dry.
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That is insane. Didn’t bother reading the article, so no idea what they are thinking. During residency training, took care of several patients on ECMO, the rate of complications were high, usually involved blood clots, side effects from treating blood clots, and infections from long term catheters. Don’t recall anyone being on it longer than 30 days. Usually a last ditch effort, at least at the time.
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I suspect that the technology has improved in the 25-30 years since you were in residency. As they point out in the article, unlike a ventilator, with ECMO patients are often awake and talking with family members. It’s kind of hard to “pull the plug” under those circumstances.
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Not really. Anyone who felt they were on ECMO for longer than necessary could always opt to call their doctor’s bluff. Can’t think of many quicker sure-fire opportunities to test the system.
Sure, the patient can decide to “pull the plug”, but I hope it’s a lot harder for your health insurer to do it (against the patient’s wishes) as a way to maintain excessive Executive Compensation.
Weren’t there polio victims confined for decades to an iron lung?
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