Extracorporeal membrane oxygenation. Controversies in selection of patients and management

This article reviews controversies associated with the selection of patients for extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO) and their management. Although there has been a raging debate regarding the use of ECMO in the management of hypoxic respiratory failure in the near-term and term newborn, the authors maintain that this issue is resolved and that ECMO is now a standard of care and should be offered to every neonate who is likely to fail conventional treatment. It is the authors' contention, that there is no apparent increase in morbidity associated with the use of ECMO and that better results might be achieved if ECMO were employed earlier in the patient's course, before hypoxic-ischemia organ damage occurs.