Extra Corporeal Life Support (ECLS) may be a life-saving treatment for patients with reversible cardiac and/or respiratory failure. ECLS is associated with a high risk of complications and mortality. Because only a small number of studies have been conducted into the long-term effects of ECLS, we investigated the difference in quality of life, anxiety and depressive complaints and PTSD 3 months after ICU discharge.

It is a retrospective case–control study covering the period January 2012 to December 2017. The ECLS patient group was compared to a matched similar patient group in the Intensive Care (IC) that did not have ECLS therapy. Quality of life was measured with the Short-Form-36 (SF-36) questionnaire, anxiety and depression was measured with the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS) questionnaire and for PTSD the Impact of Events Scale (IES) questionnaire was used, comparing sum scores and cut-off points of scores from both groups.

Included were 19 patients in the ECLS group and 38 in the control group. The mean sum scores on the sub scales of the SF36 questionnaire were the same for both groups. Only the mean score of 66.2 (scale 0–100) on the domain ‘general health experience’ was statistically significantly different in the ECLS group than in the control group (56.8, p = .02). There was no significant difference between the sum scores of both groups on anxiety and depressive complaints. In the ECLS group 32% of the patients may have a depressive disorder versus 18% from the control group (p = .32). And 26% of the patients from the ECLS group may have an anxiety disorder versus 7% from the control group (p = .51). The incidence of PTSD was 42% in the ECLS group and 24% in the control group (p = .22).

We found no statistically significant difference in quality of life, anxiety and depressive symptoms and PTSD symptoms between ECLS patients and the matched control group – 3 months after the ICU discharge. The incidence of anxiety and depressive symptoms and PTSD in the ECLS group is higher than in the control group, however, this difference is not significant.