Predictors of early mobilization in patients requiring VV ECMO for greater than 7 days: An international cohort study.

Only patients with a recorded mobility score at day seven were analysed, so patients who did not remain on ECMO for 7 days were excluded, and many excluded patients had died. Mobility was collected only at day seven, not continuously. Registry data were voluntary, so reporting bias is possible. Missing data were not imputed. The study was observational, so associations cannot show cause. For example, dual-lumen cannula use may have been chosen because clinicians expected the patient could mobilize. Results apply to venovenous ECMO in adults, not venoarterial ECMO or children. Race differences should be interpreted cautiously because race in registry data is socially constructed.

No funding source is stated in the supplied text. An author chairs the ELSO Registry Committee, the organization whose registry supplied the data. Other declared conflicts include writing for UpToDate, receiving research support from and consulting for LivaNova, advisory board roles for Abiomed, Xenios, Medtronic, Inspira and Cellenkos, leadership in the International ECMO Network, and leading two randomized trials of early mobilization in the ICU.

Do not conclude that using a dual-lumen cannula, treating at a high-volume center, or avoiding epinephrine or epoprostenol will cause more mobilization. This was an observational registry cohort, so the associations may reflect patient illness, clinician preference, or center practice.