Monitoring of Cerebral Blood Flow in Patients on Extracorporeal Membrane Oxygenation

VV-ECMO is indicated in case of severe respiratory failure refractory to other therapies. Indications for VV-ECMO include severe pneumonia, acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS) (a.o. due to COVID-19) or near-drowning. ECMO is considered a 'last resort' therapy, in which other maneuvers - such as prone positioning and neuromuscular blockage - have shown to be insufficient. Patients are generally receiving invasive mechanical ventilation and are almost always unconscious, since due to the severe respiratory failure, high doses of sedatives and neuromuscular blockage are often applied to prevent further ventilator-induced damage. After the decision for VV-ECMO is made, the patient is directly cannulated in the ICU or OR following standard protocols.