Treatment limitations in the era of ECMO

The increasing use of ECMO ensures that we, our patients, and their surrogates will increasingly face difficult decisions regarding the most appropriate use and limitations of this technology. We must make every effort to assess the values and goals of the patient, to communicate prognosis for survival and quality of life, to involve patients, families, and our multidisciplinary teams, and to provide emotional and spiritual support for all involved. We must approach individual clinical scenarios with great deliberation, yet it is clear that the advent of new technologies should not fundamentally change our ethical approach to our patients