Should I Change Anticoagulane in Veno-Venous ECMO?

Due to a lack of high-quality data to guide anticoagulation therapy in extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO) patients, there is significant variation in practice among centers. We aimed to investigate the safety, anticoagulation efficacy, and cost-effectiveness of using bivaluridine as a primary anticoagulant without unfractionated heparin (UFH) in ECMO patients.

The study population included patients undergoing Veno-Venous ECMO for acute respiratory distress syndrome. A total of 56 patients were evaluated, 25 were on UFH and 31 were on bivalirudin.

There was no significant difference between the time to reach the target activated partial thromboplastin time (aPTT) interval [6 (3.5-11) UFH, 9 (4-19) bivalirudin, P=0.287]. There was no significant difference between the percentage of time spent in the target aPTT interval (61.48±14.72 UFH, 62.65±11.99 bivaluridine, P=0.745). The median amount of erythrocyte suspension replacement (12.04±8.01; 7.9±4.71; P=0.028) and the median amount of fresh frozen plasma replacement [4 (2-6); 1 (0-4); P=0.001] were higher in the UFH group than in the bivaluridine group. The cost was lower in the UFH group compared to the bivalirudin group [$38.1 (13.5-48.7); $463.7 (194.3-819.8); P < 0.001].

The use of bivaluridine as a primary anticoagulant does not lead to any decrease in anticoagulant efficacy.