• Hussein D Kanji, Alexandra Chouldechova, Samantha Harris-Fox, Juan J Ronco, Ephraim O'dea, Chris Harvey, Constantin Shuster, Sonny Thiara, and Giles J Peek.
• Division of Critical Care Medicine, Department of Medicine, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. Electronic address: hdkanji@gmail.com.
• J Crit Care. 2021 Dec 1; 66: 26-30.

PurposeQuality of life (QoL) outcomes of patients treated with extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO) for acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS) have been conflicting. This study reports on QoL outcomes for a broad group of ARDS patients managed with up-to-date treatment modalities.MethodsWe prospectively recruited patients at a quaternary hospital in the United Kingdom from 2013 to 2015 who were treated with ECMO for ARDS. We evaluated their pulmonary function and QoL at 6-months after admission using three QoL instruments: EuroQoL 5D (EQ-5), HADS, and PTSS-14.ResultsForty-three patients included in the analysis had near-normal pulmonary function at 6 months. HADS showed moderate-to-severe anxiety and depression in 32% and 11% of patients, respectively. PTSS-14 showed 29% had signs of post-traumatic stress disorder. EQ-5D showed that 67% of patients had difficulty returning to usual activities, 74% suffered some pain, none reported severe problems and 77% were able to return to work. No clinical or demographic variables were associated with poor 6-month QoL.ConclusionsPatients with ARDS treated with ECMO generally had good QoL outcomes, similar to outcomes reported for patients managed without ECMO. With respect to QoL, VV-EMCO represents a valid treatment modality for patients with refractory ARDS.Copyright © 2021. Published by Elsevier Inc.

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