Thrombin Generation as a New Test for Anticoagulation Management in Patients With ECMO

ECMO (Extracorporeal Membrane Oxygenation) is a circulatory assistance device aiming at maintaining or restoring cardiopulmonary circulation. Complications of this device are mainly hemorrhagic, related to coagulopathy induced by the initial pathology or by the device itself, or thrombotic and ischemic. One of the major challenges is therefore the management of a suitable curative anticoagulation, sufficient to limit the activation of hemostasis du to the ECMO, but reasonable to prevent hemorrhagic complications. To date, there is no standardized and validated protocol for the management of anticoagulation of patients under ECMO. The thrombin generation may be a valuable test to manage anticoagulation of patients with ECMO.