Early Guided Palliative Care Communication for Patients With COVID-19 Receiving ECMO.

BACKGROUND: Extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO) combined with COVID-19 presents challenges (eg, isolation, anticipatory grief) for patients and families. OBJECTIVE: To (1) describe characteristics and outcomes of patients with COVID-19 receiving ECMO, (2) develop a practice improvement strategy to implement early, semistructured palliative care communication in ECMO acknowledgment meetings with patients' families, and (3) examine family members' experiences as recorded in clinicians' notes during these meetings. METHODS: Descriptive observation of guided, in-depth meetings with families of patients with COVID-19 receiving ECMO, as gathered from the electronic medical record of a large urban academic medical center. Most meetings were held within 3 days of initiation of ECMO. RESULTS: Forty-three patients received ECMO between March and October 2020. The mean patient age was 44 years; 63% of patients were Hispanic/Latino, 19% were Black, and 7% were White. Documentation of the ECMO acknowledgment meeting was completed for 60% of patients. Fifty-six percent of patients survived to hospital discharge. Family discussions revealed 7 common themes: hope, reliance on faith, multiple family members with COVID-19, helping children adjust to a new normal, visitation restrictions, gratitude for clinicians and care, and end-of-life discussions. CONCLUSION: Early and ongoing provision of palliative care is feasible and useful for highlighting a range of experiences related to COVID-19. Palliative care is also useful for educating patients and families on the benefits and limitations of ECMO therapy.

Impact of Pandemic Response on Training Experience of Anesthesiology Residents in an Academic Medical Center: A Retrospective Cohort Study.

Background The impact of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic substantially altered operations at hospitals that support graduate medical education. We examined the impact of the pandemic on an anesthesiology training program with respect to overall case volume, subspecialty exposure, procedural skill experience, and approaches to airway management. Methods Data for this single center, retrospective cohort study came from an Institutional Review Board approved repository for clinical data. Date ranges were divided into the following phases in 2020: Pre-Pandemic (PP), Early Pandemic (EP), Recovery 1 (R1), and Recovery 2 (R2). All periods were compared to the same period from 2019 for case volume, anesthesia provider type, trainee exposure to Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education (ACGME) index case categories, airway technique, and patient variables. Results 15,087 cases were identified, with 5,598 (37.6%) in the PP phase, 1,570 (10.5%) in the EP phase, 1,451 (9.7%) in the R1 phase, and 6,269 (42.1%) in the R2 phase. There was a significant reduction in case volume during the EP phase compared to the corresponding period in 2019 (-55.3%; P < .001) that improved but did not return to baseline by the R2 phase (-17.6%; P < .001). ACGME required minimum cases were reduced during the EP phase compared to 2019 data for pediatric cases (age < 12 y, -72.1%; P < .001 and age < 3 y, -53.5%; P < .006) and cardiopulmonary bypass cases (52.3%, P < .003). Surgical subspecialty case volumes were significantly reduced in the EP phase except for transplant surgery. By the R2 phase, all subspecialty volumes had recovered except for plastic surgery (14.9 vs. 10.5 cases/week; P < .006) and surgical endoscopy (59.2 vs. 40 cases/week; P < .001). Use of video laryngoscopy (VL) and rapid sequence induction and intubation (RSII) also increased from the PP to the EP phase (24.6 vs. 79.6%; P < .001 and 10.3 vs. 52.3%; P < .001, respectively) and remained elevated into the R2 phase (35.2%; P < 0.001 and 23.1%; P < .001, respectively). Conclusions The COVID-19 pandemic produced significant changes in surgical case exposure for a relatively short period. The impact was short-lived, with sufficient remaining time to meet the annual ACGME program minimum case requirements and procedural experiences. The longer-term impact may be a shift towards the increased use of VL and RSII, which became more prevalent during the early phase of the pandemic.

EFFECT OF VV ECMO ON SEDATIVE REQUIREMENTS IN PATIENTS WITH SEVERE ARDS FROM SARS-COV-2 INFECTION

We hypothesized that the use of VV ECMO in critically ill patients with SARS-CoV-2- associated ARDS would result in higher sedation requirements compared to those patients on mechanical ventilation (MV) alone. Patients on VV-ECMO and MV had deeper sedation target (RASS -4 vs -3, p < 0.001), had a longer ICU LOS (39.7 days vs 19.6, p < 0.001) and longer hospital LOS (41.9 days vs 31.4, p=0.03). B Introduction: b Adequate sedation and analgesia are often required to facilitate mechanical ventilation and extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO). [Extracted from the article] Copyright of Critical Care Medicine is the property of Lippincott Williams & Wilkins and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full . (Copyright applies to all s.)

THE ROLE OF EARLY PALLIATIVE SUPPORT IN HIGHLIGHTING FAMILY EXPERIENCES OF COVID-19 PATIENTS ON ECMO

Morbidity and mortality for patients on ECMO is high, presenting an additional set of challenges for patients, families, and caregivers. B Introduction: b Extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO) is instituted for patients with COVID-19 in severe circulatory or respiratory failure as bridge to recovery or destination therapies (device implantation or organ transplantation). [Extracted from the article] Copyright of Critical Care Medicine is the property of Lippincott Williams & Wilkins and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full . (Copyright applies to all s.)