EDITORIAL: Extracorporeal Membrane Oxygenation a Reliable Solution for Refractory Cardiopulmonary Failures: Are We Loosing Opportunities?

Majority of the critically ill patients usually have some degrees of organ dysfunction or failure. During the organs’ failure period, patients usually hospitalized in ICU and the ICU itself should be considered as a professional and optimized location for continuous organ replacement therapy as a bridge to recovery or a bridge to transplant. A suitable approach is using organ replacement therapy including ventilator therapy, continuous renal replacement therapy (CRRT), intra-aortic balloon pump (IABP) and Extracorporeal Membrane Oxygenation (ECMO) to gain some time for recovering and rescuing of dysfunctional organs or replace them with the healthy organs as transplant. During organ replacement therapy, medical – surgical teams including intensivists and other members endeavor to renew and improve the dysfunction and failed organs to reach an acceptable level for continuing normal and independent performance.