Consensus statement of the Paediatric Anaesthesiology and Intensive Therapy Section of the Polish Society of Anaesthesiology and Intensive Therapy on the use of VV ECMO in paediatric patients for the treatment of acute respiratory failure.

Extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO) is widely used in paediatric cardiac surgery units. Over recent years, interest in ECMO has grown among anaesthesiologists working in paediatric intensive care units. The indication for ECMO therapy is respiratory or cardiopulmonary failure in which, despite high inspired oxygen concentrations, advanced ventilator strategies and optimisation of the patient's condition, persistent hypoxaemia and hypercapnia carry a risk of further deterioration and death. This consensus statement of Paediatric Anaesthesiology and Intensive Therapy Section of the Polish Society of Anaesthesiology and Intensive Therapy provides recommendations on the use of veno-venous ECMO in paediatric patients in Poland, with the aim of improving outcomes in severe respiratory failure and facilitating appropriate selection of patients for ECMO support.