A model for delivery of extracorporeal life support in a stand-alone veterans affairs medical center.

INTRODUCTION

For the Veterans Health Administration (VHA) to continue to perform complex cardiothoracic surgery, there must be an established pathway for providing urgent/emergent extracorporeal life support (ECLS). Partnership with a nearby tertiary care center with such expertise may be the most resource-efficient way to provide ECLS services to patients in post-cardiotomy cardiogenic shock or respiratory failure. The goal of this project was to assess the efficiency, safety, and outcomes of surgical patients who required transfer for perioperative ECLS from a single stand-alone Veterans Affairs Medical Center (VAMC) to a separate ECLS center.

METHODS

Cohort consisted of all cardiothoracic surgery patients who experienced cardiogenic shock or refractory respiratory failure at the local VAMC requiring urgent or emergent institution of ECLS between 2019 and 2022. The primary outcomes are the safety and timeliness of transport.

RESULTS

Mean time from the initial shock call to arrival at the ECLS center was 2.8 h. There were no complications during transfer. Six patients (86%) survived to decannulation.

CONCLUSION

These results suggest that complex cardiothoracic surgery can be performed within the VHA system and when there is an indication for ECLS, those services can be safely and effectively provided at an affiliated, properly equipped center.