Over the last 15 years, clinicians have increasingly used extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO) as a rescue technique, including cannulating patients in community hospitals without ECMO capabilities, leading to secondary ECMO transports.

The objective was to evaluate the changes in cannulations and the number of cannulating centers over time.

This is a retrospective review of transports across New England to ECMO centers in Boston from 2011 to 2022.

Over the years studied, 202 patients were cannulated and transported. VA ECMO was the most common configuration. This was a high-acuity cohort, with 26.4 % of VA ECMO patients having undergone cannulation during cardiopulmonary resuscitation (ECPR) and 6.1 % having central cannulation. The number of cannulations per year increased from 6 patients in 2011 to 36 in 2019 (p = 0.055). Cannulating centers also increased from 3 in 2011 to 14 in 2022. ECPR showed a similar trend, with increases in both ECPR patients and ECPR sites per year (p = 0.055).

The number of ECMO cannulations in the community has increased, with a high-acuity cohort of many patients undergoing ECPR. The number of patients cannulated at non-ECMO centers highlights the need for transport organizations and ECMO centers to address the needs of this high-acuity patient population.