Most patients are on the life-support machine in an ICU for about nine days, and the average length of hospital stay is more than a month, Haft says. It says there are four main complications: coagulation that can form on artificial surfaces. Bleeding because patients receive high levels of blood thinners.
Once connected to a machine, the cannulas are not painful. People using it machine may be given medications (sedatives or pain relievers) to make them feel comfortable. These medicines may induce you to fall asleep.
Patients receiving it are already connected to a ventilator (breathing machine) through a tube (endotracheal or ET tube) that is placed in the mouth or nose and down into the windpipe. Therefore, they are intubated.
The best outcome for high-risk patients with severe respiratory failure is ambulatory ECMO, which allows the patient to move and walk.
Common complications associated with it, including thrombosis, hemorrhage, nosocomial infection, neurological injury, vessel injury, multiple organ failure and mechanical failure, and patients’ disease processing to limit factors.
For example, a patient whose lungs do not provide adequate oxygen to the body, even when given oxygen, may be a candidate for it.