Figure 6. Flowchart for detecting and managing technical complications on ECMO.

Not all predictors have to be present. Differential diagnoses always have to be ruled out before pathologic values can be attributed to a failing ECMO system. Different types of failure can appear together and the decision for making an exchange is often multifactorial. Therefore, usually irrespective of the leading cause of technical failure, a complete system-exchange is done, as seen in this study. If respective components are available and only one single technical failure is present, it is also possible to exchange only the failing component.