The aim of this scoping review was to determine what evidence is available regarding the use of the cycle ergometer in the rehabilitation of adult patients undergoing extracorporeal membrane oxygenation.

This scoping review was conducted according to the Joanna Briggs Institute guidelines for scoping reviews and the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses extension for Scoping Reviews checklist. Detailed searches were conducted in the following electronic databases: Medical Literature Analysis and Retrieval System Online (MEDLINE®; via PubMed), Cumulative Index to Nursing and Allied Health Literature (CINAHL®; via EBSCO), Embase (via Elsevier), Web of Science, and the Cochrane Library. The search was conducted without temporal limits until December 2024.

Sixteen published studies were included. The implementation of cycle ergometers varied across studies, with initiation times ranging from the early days of extracorporeal membrane oxygenation support to considerably later stages. Most programs integrated cycle ergometers as part of a broader multimodal rehabilitation strategy.

This scoping review highlights significant variation in the use of cycle ergometers, emphasising the heterogeneity in their implementation across the included studies. Most studies did not document adverse effects associated with the use of the cycle ergometer, suggesting its safe implementation.