Anticoagulation-free VV ECMO for Acute Respiratory Failure
For patients and families
In plain language
An automatic summary of structured registry data. It is an orientation aid, not a substitute for the official protocol or a physician assessment.
- What is being studied
- The protocol lists: Subcutaneous Heparin.
- Who it may be relevant to
- Registry conditions: Extracorporeal Membrane Oxygenation Complication. Basic parameters: from 18 years · All.
- What needs checking
- Age, condition and sex are only basic indicators. Prior treatment, laboratory values and other mandatory requirements appear in the eligibility criteria below.
- Where it takes place
- Canada
- Next step
- Save the trial, show it to the treating physician, and confirm current recruitment with the study center. Costs, documents and travel →
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Official title
Anticoagulation-free VV ECMO for Acute Respiratory Failure: A Pilot Safety and Feasibility Randomized Clinical Trial
Overview
Currently international experts recommend therapeutic anticoagulation for veno-venous extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (VV-ECMO). Reports and case series suggest that the absence of therapeutic anticoagulation is safe for VV-ECMO. No randomized control trials have assessed this. The aim of this pilot study is to assess safety and feasibility of an "anticoagulation-free strategy" for veno-venous ECMO (VV-ECMO) in Acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS).
Detailed description
Although anticoagulation targets and monitoring strategies vary around the world, the current practice is still to anticoagulate patients on ECMO, mostly with UFH. However, the use of heparin coated circuits has changed their thrombogenicity. Preliminary data suggest that a low-dose unfractionated heparin (UFH) strategy is non-inferior to a therapeutic dose UFH. Indeed, in daily practice, when a patient on ECMO has severe bleeding complications, UFH is often stopped until the hemorrhagic issue is under control, sometimes for days. This has led some to hypothesize that anticoagulation might not be necessary for VV-ECMO, and a few case series report little to no increase in adverse events as a result. There are currently no randomized controlled trials comparing anticoagulation to no anticoagulation for patients supported with ECMO. Anticoagulation is, for physiological reasons, less necessary during VV-ECMO than VA-ECMO and this is the reason why our pilot study will focus on VV-ECMO only. Whereas the whole ECMO device is identical for both configurations, the risk of systemic embolization (e.g., stroke) and its severe complications is much higher in VA-ECMO where blood is reinjected directly into the systemic arterial system. Moreover, in the presence of severely decreased left ventricular function requiring VA-ECMO, the risk of left ventricular thrombus is very high and requires anticoagulation. During VV-ECMO, the risk of systemic embolization is low because the whole circuit is on the right side of the heart and relatively preserved biventricular function is needed to perform VV-ECMO
The hypothesis is that VV-ECMO is safe and feasible without therapeutic anticoagulation for adults with ARDS.
The objectives of this study is to assess, through a pilot study, the safety and feasibility of an "anticoagulation free strategy" for veno-venous ECMO (VV-ECMO) in acute respiratory failure
Interventions
- Drug Subcutaneous Heparin
The intervention group will receive prophylactic heparin instead of standard of care therapeutic intravenous heparin
Primary outcome measures
- ECMO associated thrombotic complications [Time frame: through ECMO completion, an average of 14 days]
Secondary outcome measures (1)
- Hemorrhagic complications [Time frame: through ECMO completion, an average of 14 days]
Eligibility criteria
Inclusion criteria
- Adult patient with ARDS on VV-ECMO
Exclusion criteria
- Contraindication to anticoagulation with UFH (known heparin-induced thrombocytopenia, active hemorrhage, any surgery precluding the use of anticoagulation),
- Indication for therapeutic anticoagulation (pulmonary embolism or deep vein thrombosis, chronic anticoagulation therapy before ECMO insertion)
- Low-flow (<2 liters/min) VV-ECMO (ECCO2R)
Criteria are shown verbatim from the registry (in English). Final eligibility is always assessed by the study center.
Healthy volunteers: No
Study design
- Allocation
- Randomized
- Model
- Parallel assignment
- Masking
- Open label
- Primary purpose
- Treatment
Study locations
Canada · 1 center
- Toronto General Hospital — Toronto
Publications
- Krueger K, Schmutz A, Zieger B, Kalbhenn J. Venovenous Extracorporeal Membrane Oxygenation With Prophylactic Subcutaneous Anticoagulation Only: An Observational Study in More Than 60 Patients. Artif Organs. 2017 Feb;41(2):186-192. doi: 10.1111/aor.12737. Epub 2016 Jun 3. PMID 27256966
- Whittlesey GC, Drucker DE, Salley SO, Smith HG, Kundu SK, Palder SB, Klein MD. ECMO without heparin: laboratory and clinical experience. J Pediatr Surg. 1991 Mar;26(3):320-4; discussion 324-5. doi: 10.1016/0022-3468(91)90510-z. PMID 2030479
- Wen PH, Chan WH, Chen YC, Chen YL, Chan CP, Lin PY. Non-heparinized ECMO serves a rescue method in a multitrauma patient combining pulmonary contusion and nonoperative internal bleeding: a case report and literature review. World J Emerg Surg. 2015 Mar 12;10:15. doi: 10.1186/s13017-015-0006-9. eCollection 2015. PMID 25774211
- Dornia C, Philipp A, Bauer S, Stroszczynski C, Schreyer AG, Muller T, Koehl GE, Lehle K. D-dimers Are a Predictor of Clot Volume Inside Membrane Oxygenators During Extracorporeal Membrane Oxygenation. Artif Organs. 2015 Sep;39(9):782-7. doi: 10.1111/aor.12460. Epub 2015 Apr 7. PMID 25845704
- Lubnow M, Philipp A, Dornia C, Schroll S, Bein T, Creutzenberg M, Diez C, Schmid C, Pfeifer M, Riegger G, Muller T, Lehle K. D-dimers as an early marker for oxygenator exchange in extracorporeal membrane oxygenation. J Crit Care. 2014 Jun;29(3):473.e1-5. doi: 10.1016/j.jcrc.2013.12.008. Epub 2013 Dec 30. PMID 24508200
- Lehle K, Philipp A, Gleich O, Holzamer A, Muller T, Bein T, Schmid C. Efficiency in extracorporeal membrane oxygenation-cellular deposits on polymethylpentene membranes increase resistance to blood flow and reduce gas exchange capacity. ASAIO J. 2008 Nov-Dec;54(6):612-7. doi: 10.1097/MAT.0b013e318186a807. PMID 19033775
- Sidebotham D, Allen SJ, McGeorge A, Ibbott N, Willcox T. Venovenous extracorporeal membrane oxygenation in adults: practical aspects of circuits, cannulae, and procedures. J Cardiothorac Vasc Anesth. 2012 Oct;26(5):893-909. doi: 10.1053/j.jvca.2012.02.001. Epub 2012 Apr 13. No abstract available. PMID 22503344
- Lubnow M, Philipp A, Foltan M, Bull Enger T, Lunz D, Bein T, Haneya A, Schmid C, Riegger G, Muller T, Lehle K. Technical complications during veno-venous extracorporeal membrane oxygenation and their relevance predicting a system-exchange--retrospective analysis of 265 cases. PLoS One. 2014 Dec 2;9(12):e112316. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0112316. eCollection 2014. PMID 25464516
Identifiers
NCT: NCT04273607 · 19-5692.0