Heart & lung : the journal of critical care
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Multicenter Study
Incidence of nosocomial infections in adult patients undergoing extracorporeal membrane oxygenation.
Critically ill patients requiring extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO) are at increased risk for developing nosocomial infections owing to their underlying disease process along with numerous invasive monitoring devices. ⋯ Nosocomial infections have no effect on survival in adult ECMO patients. Presence of either antibiotics or infection prior to ECMO has no effect on developing nosocomial infections while on ECMO. Duration of ECMO longer than 10 days is a major risk factor for developing nosocomial infection.