Extracorporeal membrane oxygenation for COVID-19-associated severe acute respiratory distress syndrome in Canada: Analysis of data from the Canadian Nosocomial Infection Surveillance Program.

Background: Extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO) for COVID-19 across Canada has not been well-described. We studied trends for patients with COVID-19-related acute respiratory distress syndrome who received ECMO. Methods: Multicentre retrospective cohort study using data from the Canadian Nosocomial Infection Surveillance Program across four different waves. Surveillance data was collected between March 2020 and June 2022. We reported data stratified by ECMO status and wave. Results: ECMO recipients comprised 299 (6.8%) of the 4,408 critically ill patients included. ECMO recipients were younger (median age 49 versus 62 years, Conclusions: Our findings suggest that critically ill patients in Canadian hospitals who received ECMO had different characteristics from those who did not receive ECMO. We also observed a trend of decreased mortality over the waves for the ECMO group. Possible explanatory factors may include potential delay in ECMO initiation during Wave 1, evolution of the virus, better understanding of COVID-19 disease and ECMO use, and new medical treatments and vaccines available in later waves. These findings may provide insight for future potential pandemics.