PAEDIATRIC ANAESTHESIA AND CRITICAL CARE / SPECIAL ARTICLE
Consensus statement of the Paediatric Anaesthesiology and Intensive Therapy Section of the Polish Society of Anaesthesiology and Intensive Therapy on the use of VV ECMO in paediatric patients for the treatment of acute respiratory failure
1
Department of Paediatric Anaesthesiology and Intensive Therapy, Poznan University of Medical Sciences, Poznan, Poland
2
Department of Anaesthesiology and Intensive Therapy, Wroclaw Medical University, Wroclaw, Poland
3
Department of Paediatric Anaesthesiology and Intensive Therapy, Jan Mikulicz-Radecki University Hospital in Wroclaw, Wroclaw, Poland
4
Department of Anaesthesiology and Intensive Care, Children’s Memorial Health Institute, Warsaw, Poland
5
Department of Paediatric Cardiac Surgery, Poznan University of Medical Sciences, Poznan, Poland
6
Department of Anaesthesiology and Intensive Care Medicine, Children’s University Hospital of Cracow, Cracow, Poland
7
Department of Paediatric Anaesthesiology and Intensive Therapy, Medical University of Warsaw, Warsaw, Poland
Submission date: 2026-02-12
Acceptance date: 2026-05-08
Publication date: 2026-06-24
Corresponding author
Jowita Rosada-Kurasinska
Department of Paediatric Anaesthesiology and Intensive Therapy, Poznan University of Medical Sciences, 27/33 Szpitalna St., 60-572 Poznan, Poland
Department of Paediatric Anaesthesiology and Intensive Therapy, Poznan University of Medical Sciences, 27/33 Szpitalna St., 60-572 Poznan, Poland
Anaesthesiol Intensive Ther 2026;58(1):137-155
KEYWORDS
extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO)veno-venous ECMOacute respiratory failurepaediatric acute respiratory distress syndrome (PARDS)childrenanticoagulationpatient transferconsensus statement
TOPICS
ABSTRACT
Extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO) is widely used in paediatric cardiac surgery units. Over recent years, interest in ECMO has grown among anaesthesiologists working in paediatric intensive care units. The indication for ECMO therapy is respiratory or cardiopulmonary failure in which, despite high inspired oxygen concentrations, advanced ventilator strategies and optimisation of the patient’s condition, persistent hypoxaemia and hypercapnia carry a risk of further deterioration and death. This consensus statement of Paediatric Anaesthesiology and Intensive Therapy Section of the Polish Society of Anaesthesiology and Intensive Therapy provides recommendations on the use of veno-venous ECMO in paediatric patients in Poland, with the aim of improving outcomes in severe respiratory failure and facilitating appropriate selection of patients for ECMO support.
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