Long-term neuropsychiatric symptoms as well as neurologic and functional impairment are common in patients who receive extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO) support, results of a new meta-analysis showed.

More than half of patients reported pain or discomfort, nearly one third experienced depression, and 52% had functional impairment that affected their daily lives. Only 28% had a favorable neurologic outcome a year after ECMO.

«Our meta-analysis reveals a concerning prevalence of neuropsychiatric, neurocognitive, and functional impairments in ECMO patients,» senior author Sung-Min Cho, DO, MHS, director of Adult ECMO Research at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, Maryland, and colleagues wrote.

The findings were published online on January 5, 2024, in Neurology.

The meta-analysis included 59 studies with 3280 patients (69% male; median age, 54 years). The majority (86%) received venoarterial ECMO, most often for extracorporeal cardiopulmonary resuscitation and cardiogenic shock.

Venovenous ECMO was used most often for acute respiratory failure.