ECMO Multi-Vitamin: Weekly Recap (May 12–16, 2025)

Each weekday, I post a short ECMO Vitamin, a quick insight, question, or reminder to sharpen our practice. On Saturdays, I wrap them up into this weekly ECMO Multi-Vitamin recap, even though it’s late Saturday night today. If you missed one during the week, here’s your catch-up dose. At the bottom of this article is a YouTube link for you to listen to a podcast of last week’s topics.

👇 Here’s what we explored this week:

🟩 Monday, May 12 — How Do You Manage Circuit Pressures in the Proned Patient?

Post Link: Read it on LinkedIn Summary: Prone positioning can challenge ECMO flows by increasing abdominal pressure and impacting drainage. I shared what I’ve seen at the bedside—and how to stay ahead of access pressure issues before they become a bigger problem.

🟦 Tuesday, May 13 — What Do You Do When Platelets Are 30 but You Still Need Anticoagulation?

Post Link: Read it on LinkedIn Summary: Anticoagulation in the setting of thrombocytopenia feels like a trap. I talked about bivalirudin, bleeding risk, and the importance of team-based decision-making when the margins are razor-thin.

🟨 Wednesday, May 14 — How Do You Wean VV ECMO in a Patient with ARDS and Pulmonary Hypertension?

Post Link: Read it on LinkedIn Summary: When pulmonary hypertension complicates ARDS recovery, weaning becomes a high-wire act. I reflected on echo, ventilator settings, and signs of true lung improvement before stepping down support.

🟧 Thursday, May 15 — What’s Your Strategy for Fluid Balance in VA ECMO with AKI?

Post Link: Read it on LinkedIn Summary: VA ECMO plus AKI is a volume management headache. Do you chase urine, wait on CRRT, or preemptively diurese? I asked what others are doing when the kidneys aren’t helping, but the circuit still demands balance.

🟥 Friday, May 16 — How Do You Support Families During Prolonged ECMO?

Post Link: Read it on LinkedIn Summary: We zoom in on numbers and settings—but what about the emotional load families carry? This post explored small, meaningful ways to support loved ones facing weeks (or months) of bedside uncertainty.

🎧 Deep Dive Podcast — Available Now

Each Saturday, I record a 10-minute audio recap and reflection, assisted by NotebookLM and AI voice synthesis. In this episode, we break down:

• Managing prone pressures in VV ECMO

• Bivalirudin when platelets are critically low

• The tricky art of ECMO weaning with pulmonary hypertension

• Balancing fluid in VA ECMO + AKI

• Emotional burnout in families—and what we can do

🎙️ Listen to the Multi-Vitamin podcast on YouTube

🙌 Subscribe. Share. Think Aloud.

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