Risk Reduction by Direct Thrombin Antagonism during ECMO Therapy.

The article "Risk Reduction by Direct Thrombin Antagonism during ECMO Therapy" published in the journal Thoracic & Cardiovascular Surgeon discusses the feasibility and safety of treating ECLS patients with direct thrombin antagonism (DTA) as opposed to heparin. A study of 254 ECMO patients found that DTA was not inferior to heparin in terms of preventing complications such as bleeding, stroke, amputation, thrombosis, and device occlusion. DTA also showed superiority in overall complication rates and bleeding, while maintaining therapy stability and requiring fewer adjustments. The authors conclude that DTA is a safe and effective alternative for ECLS/ECMO therapy in patients with heparin-induced thrombocytopenia Type II. [Extracted from the article]