• Astrid Grouls, Eberechi Nwogu-Onyemkpa, Danielle Guffey, Subhasis Chatterjee, James P Herlihy, and Aanand D Naik.
• Department of Medicine (A.G., E.N.O.), Section of Geriatrics and Palliative Medicine, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, Texas, USA. Electronic address: astrid.grouls@bcm.edu.
• J Pain Symptom Manage. 2022 Oct 1; 64 (4): e181e187e181-e187.

ContextPatients with severe respiratory failure from COVID-19 refractory to conventional therapies may be treated with extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO). ECMO requirement is associated with high mortality and prolonged hospital course. ECMO is a high-resource intervention with significant burdens placed on caregivers and families with limited data on the integration of palliative care consultation (PCC).ObjectivesTo explore the role of standard vs. automatic PCC in the management of COVID patients on ECMO.MethodsRetrospective chart review of all COVID patients on ECMO admitted from March 2020 to May 2021 at a large volume academic medical center with subsequent analysis.ResultsForty-eight patients were included in the analysis. Twenty-six (54.2%) received PCC of which 42% of consults were automatically initiated. PCC at any point in admission was associated with longer duration on ECMO (24.5 vs. 37 days; P < 0.05). Automatic PCC resulted in more family meetings than standard PCC (0 vs. 3; P < 0.05) and appears to trend with reduced time on ECMO, shorter length of stay, and higher DNAR rates at death, though results were not significant. Decedents not receiving PCC had higher rates of no de-escalation of interventions at time of death (31% vs. 11%), indicating full intensive care measures continued through death.ConclusionsAmong patients with COVID-19 receiving ECMO, PCC may be associated with a shift to DNAR status particularly with automatic PCC. There may be a further impact on length of stay, duration of time on ECMO and care plan at end of life.Copyright © 2022 American Academy of Hospice and Palliative Medicine. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

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