Ethical factors determining ECMO allocation during the COVID-19 pandemic.

ABSTRACT:

Background

ECMO is a particularly scarce resource during the COVID-19 pandemic. Its allocation involves ethical considerations that may be different to usual times. There is limited pre-pandemic literature on the ethical factors that ECMO physicians consider during ECMO allocation. During the pandemic, there has been relatively little professional guidance specifically relating to ethics and ECMO allocation; although there has been active ethical debate about allocation of other critical care resources. We report the results of a small international exploratory survey of ECMO clinicians' views on different patient factors in ECMO decision-making prior to and during the COVID-19 pandemic. We then outline current ethical decision procedures and recommendations for rationing life-sust

SUBMITTER: Dao B 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC8169422 | biostudies-literature | 2021 Jun

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature