Gastrointestinal Bleeding in ECMO Patients: Incidence and Outcomes

A total of 48 patients (mean age 59±14, male 35) were diagnosed with GIB post ECMO, of those 31 patients (65%) had upper GIB, 9 (19%) had lower GIB and 3 (6%) had combined. In 5 patients (10%) bleeding was unspecified. The mean time from ECMO initiation to the presentation of the event was 11 days (±11) and ranged from same day of cannulation to up to 60 days. Thirty-one patients (65%) were in the VA ECMO group, and 8 (17%) on VV ECMO. The remaining 9 (19%) patients were in the combined ECMO group. As seen in table 1, the mean duration of ECMO support and pre- cannulation SOFA score were significantly higher in the GIB group (p < 0.01). No difference was noted on the other Parameters Furthermore, the overall hospital discharge rate showed no significant difference between both groups (p=0.95), even when considering different ECMO types (VA ECMO: p=0.32, VV ECMO: p=0.47) CONCLUSION: Our data shows that GIB is a frequent complication (10.3%) in ECMO patients. However, there was no impact on the outcomes. Further studies are required to investigate and help better understand the etiology of GIB in those patients.