Physios must inform their trust’s clinical governance leads if they want to use extracorporeal carbon dioxide removal (ECCO2R) to treat patients with respiratory failure.
ECCO2R should only be used by specialist intensive care teams, says NICE
This is one of the recommendations in an interventional procedure consultation document published by the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) on 23 August.
The document states that ECCO2R, a process that removes excess carbon dioxide from the blood, should only be used by specialist intensive care teams who are trained in its use. And its use should be limited to patients who have potentially reversible acute respiratory failure or those being considered for lung transplantation.
Gabriella Cork is a member of the extra-corporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO) physiotherapy network, a sub-group of the Association of Chartered Physiotherapists in Respiratory Care (ACPRC).
She told Frontline: ‘We would encourage physios who work outside of designated severe respiratory failure (SRF) centres and encounter patients supported with ECCO2R to contact their regional SRF centre for advice about the physiotherapy management of these seriously ill patients with complex needs.
‘Patients requiring extra-corporeal respiratory support typically require intensive respiratory and rehabilitative physiotherapy.’
Further information is available on the ACPRC website and the ECMO Physiotherapy Network can be followed on Twitter @ECMO_physio
Author: Robert Millett
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