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Safety and potential benefits of physical therapy in adult patients on extracorporeal membrane oxygenation support: a systematic review

Abstract

Scientific and technological advances, coupled with the work of multidisciplinary teams in intensive care units, have increased the survival of critically ill patients. An essential life support resource used in intensive care is extracorporeal membrane oxygenation. Despite the increased number of studies involving critically ill patients, few studies to date have demonstrated the safety and benefits of physical therapy combined with extracorporeal membrane oxygenation support. This review identified the clinical outcomes of physical therapy in adult patients on extracorporeal membrane oxygenation support by searching the MEDLINE®, PEDro, Cochrane CENTRAL, LILACS, and EMBASE databases and by manually searching the references of the articles published until September 2017. The database search retrieved 1,213 studies. Of these studies, 20 were included in this review, with data on 317 subjects (58 in the control group). Twelve studies reported that there were no complications during physical therapy. Cannula fracture during ambulation (one case), thrombus in the return cannula (one case), and leg swelling (one case) were reported in two studies, and desaturation and mild vertigo were reported in two studies. In contrast, improvements in respiratory/pulmonary function, functional capacity, muscle strength (with reduced muscle mass loss), incidence of myopathy, length of hospitalization, and mortality in patients who underwent physical therapy were reported. The analysis of the available data indicates that physical therapy, including early progressive mobilization, standing, ambulation, and breathing techniques, together with extracorporeal membrane oxygenation, is feasible, relatively safe, and potentially beneficial for critically ill adult patients.

Keywords:
Extracorporeal membrane oxygenation; Physical therapy modalities; Physical therapy specialty; Rehabilitation; Early ambulation

RESUMO

O avanço científico e tecnológico associado à atuação de equipes multidisciplinares nas unidades de terapia intensiva tem aumentado a sobrevida de pacientes críticos. Dentre os recursos de suporte de vida utilizados em terapia intensiva, está a oxigenação por membrana extracorpórea. Apesar das evidências aumentarem, faltam dados para demonstrar a segurança e os benefícios da fisioterapia concomitante ao uso da oxigenação por membrana extracorpórea. Esta revisão reúne as informações disponíveis sobre a repercussão clínica da fisioterapia em adultos submetidos à oxigenação por membrana extracorpórea. A revisão incluiu as bases MEDLINE®, PEDro, Cochrane CENTRAL, LILACS e EMBASE, além da busca manual nas referências dos artigos relacionados até setembro de 2017. A busca resultou em 1.213 registros. Vinte estudos foram incluídos, fornecendo dados de 317 indivíduos (58 no grupo controle). Doze estudos não relataram complicações durante a fisioterapia. Fratura da cânula durante a deambulação, trombo na cânula de retorno e hematoma na perna em um paciente cada foram relatados por dois estudos, dessaturação e vertigens leves foram relatadas em dois estudos. Por outro lado, foram feitos relatos de melhora na condição respiratória/pulmonar, capacidade funcional e força muscular, com redução de perda de massa muscular, incidência de miopatia, tempo de internação e mortalidade dos pacientes que realizaram a fisioterapia. Analisando o conjunto das informações disponíveis, pode-se observar que a fisioterapia, incluindo a mobilização precoce progressiva, ortostase, deambulação e técnicas respiratórias, executada de forma simultânea à oxigenação por membrana extracorpórea, é viável, relativamente segura e potencialmente benéfica para adultos em condição clínica extremamente crítica.

Descritores:
Oxigenação por membrana extracorpórea; Modalidades de fisioterapia; Fisioterapia; Reabilitação; Deambulação precoce

INTRODUCTION

Scientific and technological advances, combined with the work of multidisciplinary teams in intensive care units (ICUs), have increased the survival of critically ill patients. In addition, there has been an increase in the incidence of physical complications due to the deleterious effects of prolonged immobility and the length of invasive mechanical ventilation (MV), contributing to an increase in healthcare costs and mortality, impairment of the quality of life, and lower survival after hospital discharge.(11 França EE, Ferrari F, Fernandes P, Cavalcanti R, Duarte A, Martinez BP, et al. Fisioterapia em pacientes críticos adultos: recomendações do Departamento de Fisioterapia da Associação de Medicina Intensiva Brasileira. Rev Bras Ter Intensiva. 2012;24(1):6-22.)

One of the advanced features used in ICUs is extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO), characterized by temporary mechanical support for the heart and lungs(22 Allen S, Holena D, McCunn M, Kohl B, Sarani B. A review of the fundamental principles and evidence base in the use of extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO) in critically ill adult patients. J Intensive Care Med. 2011;26(1):13-26.) in patients with severe respiratory and/or cardiovascular failure refractory to traditional treatment approaches.(33 Peek GJ, Mugford M, Tiruvoipati R, Wilson A, Allen E, Thalanany MM, Hibbert CL, Truesdale A, Clemens F, Cooper N, Firmin RK, Elbourne D; CESAR trial collaboration. Efficacy and economic assessment of conventional ventilatory support versus extracorporeal membrane oxygenation for severe adult respiratory failure (CESAR): a multicentre randomised controlled trial. Lancet. 2009;374(9698):1351-63. Erratum in Lancet. 2009;374(9698):1330.) ECMO can be performed using three types of cannulation: veno-arterial (VA), veno-venous (VV), or venous-arterial-venous (VAV). Regardless of the modality used, large-bore catheters placed in large vessels are connected to a circuit in which blood is pumped into an artificial lung or membrane oxygenator, where oxygen and carbon dioxide are exchanged. In this system, blood is warmed to body temperature before being reinfused into the patient.(44 Betit P, Thompson J. Terapia respiratória neonatal e pediátrica. In: Wilkins RL, Stoller JK, Kacmarek RM. EGAN Fundamentos da terapia respiratória. 9ª edição. Rio de Janeiro: Elsevier; 2009. p.1213.

5 Elliot D, Crouser, Fahy RJ. Lesão pulmonar aguda, edema pulmonar e insuficiência múltipla de órgãos. In: Wilkins RL, Stoller JK, Kacmarek RM. EGAN Fundamentos da terapia respiratória. Rio de Janeiro: Elsevier; 2009. p.587-588.

6 Mosier JM, Kelsey M, Raz Y, Gunnerson KJ, Meyer R, Hypes CD, et al. Extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO) for critically ill adults in the emergency department: history, current applications, and future directions. Crit Care. 2015;19:431.
-77 Jayamaran AL, Cormican D, Shah P, Ramakrishna H. Cannulation strategies in adult veno-arterial and veno-venous extracorporeal membrane oxygenation: techniques, limitations, and special considerations. Ann Card Anaesth. 2017;20 (Supplement):S11-8.)

The severe immobility of hospitalized patients with extended ICU stays induces a high degree of muscle mass loss, ranging from 3% to 11% in the first 3 weeks of immobilization.(88 Meesen RL, Dendale P, Cuypers K, Berger J, Hermans A, Thijs H, et al. Neuromuscular electrical stimulation as a possible means to prevent muscle tissue wasting in artificially ventilated and sedated patients in the intensive care unit: a pilot study. Neuromodulation. 2010;13(4):315-20; discussion 321.) In addition, patients on ECMO support present lower functional capacity, psychological stress, and lower quality of life.(99 Combes A, Leprince P, Luyt CE, Bonnet N, Trouillet JL, Léger P, et al. Outcomes and long-term quality-of-life of patients supported by extracorporeal membrane oxygenation for refractory cardiogenic shock. Crit Care Med. 2008;36(5):1404-11.) The awakening and extubation of these patients are becoming more common, allowing for feeding, communication, active participation in treatment, and incorporation of rehabilitation programs into the hospital routine, helping these patients to maintain muscle strength and function.(1010 Fuehner T, Kuehn C, Hadern J, Wiesner O, Gottlieb J, Tudorache I, et al. Extracorporeal membrane oxygenation in awake patients as bridge to lung transplantation. Am J Respir Crit Care Med. 2012;185(7):763-8.,1111 Abrams D, Javidfar J, Farrand E, Mongero LB, Agerstrand CL, Ryan P, et al. Early mobilization of patients receiving extracorporeal membrane oxygenation: a retrospective cohort study. Crit Care. 2014;18(1):R38.)

Several protocols of progressive mobilization have been recommended both to rehabilitate(1212 Griffiths RD, Hall JB. Intensive care unit-acquired weakness. Crit Care Med. 2010;38(3):779-87.) and to maintain muscle strength and mass.(1313 Van Aswegen H, Myezwa H. Exercise overcomes muscle weakness following on trauma and critical illness. J Physiother. 2008;64(2):36-42.) In this context, physical therapy (PT) is used to reduce the deleterious effects of immobility, stimulate peripheral blood flow, produce anti-inflammatory cytokines, and increase insulin activity and glucose uptake in muscle tissues.(1313 Van Aswegen H, Myezwa H. Exercise overcomes muscle weakness following on trauma and critical illness. J Physiother. 2008;64(2):36-42.) However, although the number of studies involving critically ill patients has been increasing, few studies to date have analyzed the safety and potential benefits of PT in adult patients on ECMO support, given the risk of cannula displacement or fracture during cannulation procedures, potentially leading to adverse events. To date, one systematic review was conducted to determine the potential advantages and safety of multimodal PT protocols to improve motor and respiratory function, combined with VV ECMO. The study searched seven databases and included 9 articles published from 2010 to 2014, with a total of 54 participants, including children and adults.(1414 Polastri M, Loforte A, Dell'Amore A, Nava S. Physiotherapy for patients on awake extracorporeal membrane oxygenation: A systematic review. Physiother Res Int. 2016;21(4):203-9.) The main limitation was the risk of bias related to the types of studies included in the review. Nonetheless, no formal procedure for assessing the methodological quality of these studies was adopted.

In this context, the primary objective of the present systematic review is to determine the safety of PT in adult patients on ECMO support regardless of the type of cannulation used. The secondary objective was to evaluate the potential benefits of this intervention.

METHODS

This review complied with the recommendations of the Cochrane Collaboration(1515 Higgins JP, Green S, editors. Cochrane Handbook for Systematic Reviews of Interventions. Version 5.1.0 [updated March 2011]. The Cochrane Collaboration; 2011.) and the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses: The PRISMA Statement,(1616 Moher D, Liberati A, Tetzlaff J, Altman DG; PRISMA Group. Preferred reporting items for systematic reviews and meta-analyses: the PRISMA statement. Int J Surg. 2010;8(5):336-41. Erratum in: Int J Surg. 2010;8(8):658.) and it was recorded in the PROSPERO - International Prospective Register of Systematic Reviews (http://www.crd.york.ac.uk/PROSPERO/) Under No. CRD42017080407.

Eligibility criteria

Observational studies (cohort, cross-sectional, case control, case report, or case series) that recruited patients aged ≥ 18 years old who were hospitalized in ICUs on ECMO support (regardless of the type of cannulation: VA, VV, or VAV) and who underwent PT using multimodal protocols (respiratory, motor, and/or electrophysical interventions, including light, sound, thermal, or electrical stimulation) during ECMO support were eligible for inclusion. Studies with or without a comparison group were also eligible. However, the comparison groups, when present, had to have undergone ECMO support but not PT. In the case series, the reports of patients younger than 18 years old were excluded. Publications in English, Portuguese, and Spanish were searched.

The safety of PT was the primary outcome of this review and was evaluated according to the mortality rate, adverse events, oxygen perfusion characteristics, hemodynamic stability (oxygen saturation, heart rate, and blood pressure), and other parameters used to describe the clinical status of patients. Secondary outcomes included the length of MV, length of ECMO support, length of ICU stay, and length of hospital stay. Other effects of PT were also identified and described in this review.

Search strategy

Studies indexed until September 9, 2017, were searched in the MEDLINE® (accessed via PubMed), EMBASE, Cochrane Controlled Trials Register (Cochrane CENTRAL), Latin American and Caribbean Literature in Health Sciences (LILACS), and the Physiotherapy Evidence Database (PEDro) electronic databases. In addition, a manual search was performed on the references of the included studies and published reviews on the subject. The search terms, including indexed terms (MeSH and EMTREE), subject indices, and synonyms, either individually or in combination using Boolean operators (AND and OR), were Extracorporeal Membrane Oxygenation’, ‘Physical Therapy Modalities’, ‘Rehabilitation’, and ‘Early Ambulation’. Terms related to the outcomes of interest or the type of study were not included to increase the search sensitivity. The date of publication and language restrictions were not included in the search. The complete search strategy used in PubMed is shown in table 1.

Table 1
Search strategy using the MEDLINE® database accessed via PubMed

Study selection and data extraction

After removing duplicates, two independent researchers examined the titles and abstracts of the retrieved articles. Potentially eligible and uncertain studies were selected for independent evaluation of the full text by the same reviewer according to the eligibility criteria. Divergences were resolved by consensus or by a third reviewer. In the case of multiple publications with the same population, the study with the largest sample was selected. Summaries published at conferences were analyzed on a case-by-case basis and were included if sufficient information was available for assessing eligibility. The reviewers were not blinded to the authors or institutions of the studies under review.

After selecting the studies, two independent reviewers collected data using a standard Microsoft Excel spreadsheet (Microsoft Corporation, Redmond, WA, USA). Disagreements were resolved by consensus or by a third reviewer. Data on the number and characteristics of the study populations, ECMO characteristics, comparison groups (when available), intervention protocols, and outcomes were extracted.

Analysis of the risk of bias

Two investigators independently assessed the risk of bias of the included studies. Descriptive analysis was performed of cohort studies and case-control studies using the Newcastle-Ottawa scale.(1717 Wells GA, Shea B, O'Connell D, Peterson J, Welch V, Losos M, et al. The Newcastle-Ottawa Scale (NOS) for assessing the quality of nonrandomised studies in meta-analyses. Available from: http://www.ohri.ca/programs/clinical_epidemiology/oxford.asp. Accessed in October, 2017.
http://www.ohri.ca/programs/clinical_epi...
) The Newcastle-Ottawa scale(1717 Wells GA, Shea B, O'Connell D, Peterson J, Welch V, Losos M, et al. The Newcastle-Ottawa Scale (NOS) for assessing the quality of nonrandomised studies in meta-analyses. Available from: http://www.ohri.ca/programs/clinical_epidemiology/oxford.asp. Accessed in October, 2017.
http://www.ohri.ca/programs/clinical_epi...
) contains eight questions and assesses the methodological quality using a star scoring system based on three criteria: selection, comparability between groups, and the reliability of outcomes or exposures (in cohort or case-control studies, respectively).

Case series and case studies were evaluated with an 18-item scale to assess the quality of the cases series.(1818 Moga C, Guo B, Schopflocher D, Harstall C. Development of a quality appraisal tool for case series studies using a modified Delphi technique. 2012. Available from http://cobe.paginas.ufsc.br/files/2014/10/MOGA.Case-series.pdf. Acessed in October, 2017.
http://cobe.paginas.ufsc.br/files/2014/1...
) This 18-item scale was developed using the modified Delphi method, and it was used to assess the clarity with which the data were reported in the studies. The scale was also used to assess study objectives, similarity between cases, outcomes, and conclusions. This tool was developed for case series but was adapted for case studies.

Data analysis

The included studies did not present sufficient data and were considered very heterogeneous for estimating the occurrence of the outcomes by meta-analysis. Therefore, the extracted data were analyzed qualitatively.

RESULTS

Characterization of the studies

Of the 1,208 studies found in the databases and the five studies found in the reference lists, 20 studies(1111 Abrams D, Javidfar J, Farrand E, Mongero LB, Agerstrand CL, Ryan P, et al. Early mobilization of patients receiving extracorporeal membrane oxygenation: a retrospective cohort study. Crit Care. 2014;18(1):R38.,1919 Bain JC, Turner DA, Rehder KJ, Eisenstein EL, Davis RD, Cheifetz IM, et al. Economic outcomes of extracorporeal membrane oxygenation with and without ambulation as a bridge to lung transplantation. Respir Care. 2016;61(1):1-7.

20 Carswell A, Roberts A, Rosenberg A, Zych B, Garcia D, Simon A, et al. Mobilisation of patients with veno-venous extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (VV ECMO): A case series. Eur J Heart Fail. 2017;19(Suppl 2):26-7.

21 Cork G, Barrett N, Ntoumenopoulos G. Justification for chest physiotherapy during ultra-protective lung ventilation and extra-corporeal membrane oxygenation: a case study. Physiother Res Int. 2014;19(2):126-8.

22 Dennis DR, Boling B, Tribble TA, Rajagopalan N, Hoopes CW. Safety of nurse driven ambulation for patients on venovenous extracorporeal membrane oxygenation. J Heart Lung Transplant. 2014;33(4 Suppl):S301.

23 Hermens JA, Braithwaite SA, Heijnen G, van Dijk D, Donker DW. Awake' extracorporeal membrane oxygenation requires adequate lower body muscle training and mobilisation as sucessful bridge to lung transplant. Intensive Care Med Exp. 2015;3(Suppl 1):A510.

24 Keibun R. Awake ECMO and active rehabilitation strategies for venovenous ECMO as a bridge to recovery. Crit Care Med. 2016;44(12 Suppl):321.

25 Kikukawa T, Ogura T, Harasawa T, Suzuki H, Nakano M. H1N1 influenza-associated pneumonia with severe obesity: successful management with awake veno-venous extracorporeal membrane oxygenation and early respiratory physical therapy. Acute Med Surg. 2015;3(2):186-9.

26 Ko Y, Cho YH, Park YH, Lee H, Suh GY, Yang JH, et al. Feasibility and safety of early physical therapy and active mobilization for patients on extracorporeal membrane oxygenation. ASAIO J. 2015;61(5):564-8.

27 Kulkarni T, Teerapuncharoen K, Trevor J, Wille K, Diaz-Guzman E. Ambulatory low blood flow extracorporeal membrane oxygenation in a patient with refractory status asthmaticus. Am J Respir Crit Care Med. 2015;191:A4564.

28 Morris K, Barrett N, Curtis A. Exercise on ECMO: an evolving science. J Intensive Care Soc. 2014;15(1 Suppl):S60-1.

29 Munshi L, Kobayashi T, DeBacker J, Doobay R, Telesnick T, Lo V, et al. Intensive care physiotherapy during extracorporeal membrane oxygenation for acute respiratory distress syndrome. Ann Am Thorac Soc. 2017;14(2):246-53.

30 Norrenberg M, Gleize A, Preiser JC. Impact of restricted hip moviment during ECMO on later joint mobility. Intensive Care Med Exp. 2016;4(Suppl 1):A579.

31 Pastva A, Kirk T, Parry SM. Functional electrical stimulation cycling pre-and post-bilateral orthotopic lung transplantation: A case report. Am J Respir Crit Care Med. 2015;191:A1643.

32 Pruijstein R, van Thiel R, Hool S, Saeijs M, Verbiest M, Reis Miranda D. Mobilization of patients on venovenous extracorporeal membrane oxygenation support using an ECMO helmet. Intensive Care Med. 2014;40(10):1595-7.

33 Rahimi RA, Skrzat J, Reddy DR, Zanni JM, Fan E, Stephens RS, et al. Physical rehabilitation of patients in the intensive care unit requiring extracorporeal membrane oxygenation: a small case series. Phys Ther. 2013;93(2):248-55.

34 Rehder KJ, Turner DA, Hartwig MG, Williford WL, Bonadonna D, Walczak RJ Jr, et al. Active rehabilitation during extracorporeal membrane oxygenation as a bridge to lung transplantation. Respir Care. 2013;58(8):1291-8.

35 Salam S, Kotloff R, Garcha P, Krishnan S, Joshi D, Grady P, et al. Lung transplantation after 125 days on ECMO for severe refractory hypoxemia with no prior lung disease. ASAIO J. 2017;63(5):e66-8.

36 Turner DA, Cheifetz IM, Rehder KJ, Williford WL, Bonadonna D, Banuelos SJ, et al. Active rehabilitation and physical therapy during extracorporeal membrane oxygenation while awaiting lung transplantation: a practical approach. Crit Care Med. 2011;39(12):2593-8.
-3737 Wells CL, Forreseter J, Vogel J, Rector R, Herr D. The feasibility and safety in providing early rehabilitation and ambulation for adults on percutaneous venous to arterial extracorporeal membrane oxygenation support. Am J Respir Crit Care Med. 2017;195:A2710.) met all of the criteria and were included in this review, providing data on 317 subjects, including 259 patients treated with PT and 58 patients not treated with PT during ECMO support.

The study selection process flowchart is shown in figure 1, and a summary of the characteristics of the included studies is shown in table 2.

Figure 1
Flowchart of study selection and inclusion.

LILACS - Latin American and Caribbean Literature in Health Sciences; PEdro - Physiotherapy Evidence Database.


Table 2
Characteristics of the studies included in the review

Extracorporeal membrane oxygenation support indications, durations, and cannulation strategies

The underlying diseases or clinical conditions that led to the indication of ECMO were cystic fibrosis,(1111 Abrams D, Javidfar J, Farrand E, Mongero LB, Agerstrand CL, Ryan P, et al. Early mobilization of patients receiving extracorporeal membrane oxygenation: a retrospective cohort study. Crit Care. 2014;18(1):R38.,1919 Bain JC, Turner DA, Rehder KJ, Eisenstein EL, Davis RD, Cheifetz IM, et al. Economic outcomes of extracorporeal membrane oxygenation with and without ambulation as a bridge to lung transplantation. Respir Care. 2016;61(1):1-7.,2020 Carswell A, Roberts A, Rosenberg A, Zych B, Garcia D, Simon A, et al. Mobilisation of patients with veno-venous extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (VV ECMO): A case series. Eur J Heart Fail. 2017;19(Suppl 2):26-7.,2323 Hermens JA, Braithwaite SA, Heijnen G, van Dijk D, Donker DW. Awake' extracorporeal membrane oxygenation requires adequate lower body muscle training and mobilisation as sucessful bridge to lung transplant. Intensive Care Med Exp. 2015;3(Suppl 1):A510.,3131 Pastva A, Kirk T, Parry SM. Functional electrical stimulation cycling pre-and post-bilateral orthotopic lung transplantation: A case report. Am J Respir Crit Care Med. 2015;191:A1643.

32 Pruijstein R, van Thiel R, Hool S, Saeijs M, Verbiest M, Reis Miranda D. Mobilization of patients on venovenous extracorporeal membrane oxygenation support using an ECMO helmet. Intensive Care Med. 2014;40(10):1595-7.
-3333 Rahimi RA, Skrzat J, Reddy DR, Zanni JM, Fan E, Stephens RS, et al. Physical rehabilitation of patients in the intensive care unit requiring extracorporeal membrane oxygenation: a small case series. Phys Ther. 2013;93(2):248-55.,3636 Turner DA, Cheifetz IM, Rehder KJ, Williford WL, Bonadonna D, Banuelos SJ, et al. Active rehabilitation and physical therapy during extracorporeal membrane oxygenation while awaiting lung transplantation: a practical approach. Crit Care Med. 2011;39(12):2593-8.) pulmonary fibrosis,(1111 Abrams D, Javidfar J, Farrand E, Mongero LB, Agerstrand CL, Ryan P, et al. Early mobilization of patients receiving extracorporeal membrane oxygenation: a retrospective cohort study. Crit Care. 2014;18(1):R38.,1919 Bain JC, Turner DA, Rehder KJ, Eisenstein EL, Davis RD, Cheifetz IM, et al. Economic outcomes of extracorporeal membrane oxygenation with and without ambulation as a bridge to lung transplantation. Respir Care. 2016;61(1):1-7.,2020 Carswell A, Roberts A, Rosenberg A, Zych B, Garcia D, Simon A, et al. Mobilisation of patients with veno-venous extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (VV ECMO): A case series. Eur J Heart Fail. 2017;19(Suppl 2):26-7.,2323 Hermens JA, Braithwaite SA, Heijnen G, van Dijk D, Donker DW. Awake' extracorporeal membrane oxygenation requires adequate lower body muscle training and mobilisation as sucessful bridge to lung transplant. Intensive Care Med Exp. 2015;3(Suppl 1):A510.,3131 Pastva A, Kirk T, Parry SM. Functional electrical stimulation cycling pre-and post-bilateral orthotopic lung transplantation: A case report. Am J Respir Crit Care Med. 2015;191:A1643.

32 Pruijstein R, van Thiel R, Hool S, Saeijs M, Verbiest M, Reis Miranda D. Mobilization of patients on venovenous extracorporeal membrane oxygenation support using an ECMO helmet. Intensive Care Med. 2014;40(10):1595-7.
-3333 Rahimi RA, Skrzat J, Reddy DR, Zanni JM, Fan E, Stephens RS, et al. Physical rehabilitation of patients in the intensive care unit requiring extracorporeal membrane oxygenation: a small case series. Phys Ther. 2013;93(2):248-55.,3636 Turner DA, Cheifetz IM, Rehder KJ, Williford WL, Bonadonna D, Banuelos SJ, et al. Active rehabilitation and physical therapy during extracorporeal membrane oxygenation while awaiting lung transplantation: a practical approach. Crit Care Med. 2011;39(12):2593-8.) acute respiratory failure,(2121 Cork G, Barrett N, Ntoumenopoulos G. Justification for chest physiotherapy during ultra-protective lung ventilation and extra-corporeal membrane oxygenation: a case study. Physiother Res Int. 2014;19(2):126-8.,2424 Keibun R. Awake ECMO and active rehabilitation strategies for venovenous ECMO as a bridge to recovery. Crit Care Med. 2016;44(12 Suppl):321.,2525 Kikukawa T, Ogura T, Harasawa T, Suzuki H, Nakano M. H1N1 influenza-associated pneumonia with severe obesity: successful management with awake veno-venous extracorporeal membrane oxygenation and early respiratory physical therapy. Acute Med Surg. 2015;3(2):186-9.,3636 Turner DA, Cheifetz IM, Rehder KJ, Williford WL, Bonadonna D, Banuelos SJ, et al. Active rehabilitation and physical therapy during extracorporeal membrane oxygenation while awaiting lung transplantation: a practical approach. Crit Care Med. 2011;39(12):2593-8.) acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS),(1111 Abrams D, Javidfar J, Farrand E, Mongero LB, Agerstrand CL, Ryan P, et al. Early mobilization of patients receiving extracorporeal membrane oxygenation: a retrospective cohort study. Crit Care. 2014;18(1):R38.,2929 Munshi L, Kobayashi T, DeBacker J, Doobay R, Telesnick T, Lo V, et al. Intensive care physiotherapy during extracorporeal membrane oxygenation for acute respiratory distress syndrome. Ann Am Thorac Soc. 2017;14(2):246-53.,3333 Rahimi RA, Skrzat J, Reddy DR, Zanni JM, Fan E, Stephens RS, et al. Physical rehabilitation of patients in the intensive care unit requiring extracorporeal membrane oxygenation: a small case series. Phys Ther. 2013;93(2):248-55.,3535 Salam S, Kotloff R, Garcha P, Krishnan S, Joshi D, Grady P, et al. Lung transplantation after 125 days on ECMO for severe refractory hypoxemia with no prior lung disease. ASAIO J. 2017;63(5):e66-8.) chronic obstructive pulmonary disease,(1111 Abrams D, Javidfar J, Farrand E, Mongero LB, Agerstrand CL, Ryan P, et al. Early mobilization of patients receiving extracorporeal membrane oxygenation: a retrospective cohort study. Crit Care. 2014;18(1):R38.) idiopathic pulmonary disease,(1111 Abrams D, Javidfar J, Farrand E, Mongero LB, Agerstrand CL, Ryan P, et al. Early mobilization of patients receiving extracorporeal membrane oxygenation: a retrospective cohort study. Crit Care. 2014;18(1):R38.) pulmonary arterial hypertension,(1111 Abrams D, Javidfar J, Farrand E, Mongero LB, Agerstrand CL, Ryan P, et al. Early mobilization of patients receiving extracorporeal membrane oxygenation: a retrospective cohort study. Crit Care. 2014;18(1):R38.) usual interstitial pneumonia,(1919 Bain JC, Turner DA, Rehder KJ, Eisenstein EL, Davis RD, Cheifetz IM, et al. Economic outcomes of extracorporeal membrane oxygenation with and without ambulation as a bridge to lung transplantation. Respir Care. 2016;61(1):1-7.) acute viral interstitial pneumonia,(2828 Morris K, Barrett N, Curtis A. Exercise on ECMO: an evolving science. J Intensive Care Soc. 2014;15(1 Suppl):S60-1.) pneumonia,(1919 Bain JC, Turner DA, Rehder KJ, Eisenstein EL, Davis RD, Cheifetz IM, et al. Economic outcomes of extracorporeal membrane oxygenation with and without ambulation as a bridge to lung transplantation. Respir Care. 2016;61(1):1-7.) bridge to lung transplantation (LT),(2222 Dennis DR, Boling B, Tribble TA, Rajagopalan N, Hoopes CW. Safety of nurse driven ambulation for patients on venovenous extracorporeal membrane oxygenation. J Heart Lung Transplant. 2014;33(4 Suppl):S301.,2626 Ko Y, Cho YH, Park YH, Lee H, Suh GY, Yang JH, et al. Feasibility and safety of early physical therapy and active mobilization for patients on extracorporeal membrane oxygenation. ASAIO J. 2015;61(5):564-8.,3434 Rehder KJ, Turner DA, Hartwig MG, Williford WL, Bonadonna D, Walczak RJ Jr, et al. Active rehabilitation during extracorporeal membrane oxygenation as a bridge to lung transplantation. Respir Care. 2013;58(8):1291-8.) asthma,(2727 Kulkarni T, Teerapuncharoen K, Trevor J, Wille K, Diaz-Guzman E. Ambulatory low blood flow extracorporeal membrane oxygenation in a patient with refractory status asthmaticus. Am J Respir Crit Care Med. 2015;191:A4564.) lymphangioleiomyomatosis,(2323 Hermens JA, Braithwaite SA, Heijnen G, van Dijk D, Donker DW. Awake' extracorporeal membrane oxygenation requires adequate lower body muscle training and mobilisation as sucessful bridge to lung transplant. Intensive Care Med Exp. 2015;3(Suppl 1):A510.) pleuroparenchymal fibroelastosis,(3232 Pruijstein R, van Thiel R, Hool S, Saeijs M, Verbiest M, Reis Miranda D. Mobilization of patients on venovenous extracorporeal membrane oxygenation support using an ECMO helmet. Intensive Care Med. 2014;40(10):1595-7.) pulmonary embolism,(3737 Wells CL, Forreseter J, Vogel J, Rector R, Herr D. The feasibility and safety in providing early rehabilitation and ambulation for adults on percutaneous venous to arterial extracorporeal membrane oxygenation support. Am J Respir Crit Care Med. 2017;195:A2710.) cardiogenic shock,(3737 Wells CL, Forreseter J, Vogel J, Rector R, Herr D. The feasibility and safety in providing early rehabilitation and ambulation for adults on percutaneous venous to arterial extracorporeal membrane oxygenation support. Am J Respir Crit Care Med. 2017;195:A2710.) and ventricular dysfunction after cardiac procedure.(3737 Wells CL, Forreseter J, Vogel J, Rector R, Herr D. The feasibility and safety in providing early rehabilitation and ambulation for adults on percutaneous venous to arterial extracorporeal membrane oxygenation support. Am J Respir Crit Care Med. 2017;195:A2710.) One study(3030 Norrenberg M, Gleize A, Preiser JC. Impact of restricted hip moviment during ECMO on later joint mobility. Intensive Care Med Exp. 2016;4(Suppl 1):A579.) did not report the reason for using ECMO in the sample (n = 10). The duration of ECMO support was reported in 12 studies(1919 Bain JC, Turner DA, Rehder KJ, Eisenstein EL, Davis RD, Cheifetz IM, et al. Economic outcomes of extracorporeal membrane oxygenation with and without ambulation as a bridge to lung transplantation. Respir Care. 2016;61(1):1-7.,2121 Cork G, Barrett N, Ntoumenopoulos G. Justification for chest physiotherapy during ultra-protective lung ventilation and extra-corporeal membrane oxygenation: a case study. Physiother Res Int. 2014;19(2):126-8.

22 Dennis DR, Boling B, Tribble TA, Rajagopalan N, Hoopes CW. Safety of nurse driven ambulation for patients on venovenous extracorporeal membrane oxygenation. J Heart Lung Transplant. 2014;33(4 Suppl):S301.
-2323 Hermens JA, Braithwaite SA, Heijnen G, van Dijk D, Donker DW. Awake' extracorporeal membrane oxygenation requires adequate lower body muscle training and mobilisation as sucessful bridge to lung transplant. Intensive Care Med Exp. 2015;3(Suppl 1):A510.,2525 Kikukawa T, Ogura T, Harasawa T, Suzuki H, Nakano M. H1N1 influenza-associated pneumonia with severe obesity: successful management with awake veno-venous extracorporeal membrane oxygenation and early respiratory physical therapy. Acute Med Surg. 2015;3(2):186-9.,2727 Kulkarni T, Teerapuncharoen K, Trevor J, Wille K, Diaz-Guzman E. Ambulatory low blood flow extracorporeal membrane oxygenation in a patient with refractory status asthmaticus. Am J Respir Crit Care Med. 2015;191:A4564.,2929 Munshi L, Kobayashi T, DeBacker J, Doobay R, Telesnick T, Lo V, et al. Intensive care physiotherapy during extracorporeal membrane oxygenation for acute respiratory distress syndrome. Ann Am Thorac Soc. 2017;14(2):246-53.,3030 Norrenberg M, Gleize A, Preiser JC. Impact of restricted hip moviment during ECMO on later joint mobility. Intensive Care Med Exp. 2016;4(Suppl 1):A579.,3333 Rahimi RA, Skrzat J, Reddy DR, Zanni JM, Fan E, Stephens RS, et al. Physical rehabilitation of patients in the intensive care unit requiring extracorporeal membrane oxygenation: a small case series. Phys Ther. 2013;93(2):248-55.

34 Rehder KJ, Turner DA, Hartwig MG, Williford WL, Bonadonna D, Walczak RJ Jr, et al. Active rehabilitation during extracorporeal membrane oxygenation as a bridge to lung transplantation. Respir Care. 2013;58(8):1291-8.

35 Salam S, Kotloff R, Garcha P, Krishnan S, Joshi D, Grady P, et al. Lung transplantation after 125 days on ECMO for severe refractory hypoxemia with no prior lung disease. ASAIO J. 2017;63(5):e66-8.
-3636 Turner DA, Cheifetz IM, Rehder KJ, Williford WL, Bonadonna D, Banuelos SJ, et al. Active rehabilitation and physical therapy during extracorporeal membrane oxygenation while awaiting lung transplantation: a practical approach. Crit Care Med. 2011;39(12):2593-8.) and ranged from 1(1919 Bain JC, Turner DA, Rehder KJ, Eisenstein EL, Davis RD, Cheifetz IM, et al. Economic outcomes of extracorporeal membrane oxygenation with and without ambulation as a bridge to lung transplantation. Respir Care. 2016;61(1):1-7.) to 125(3535 Salam S, Kotloff R, Garcha P, Krishnan S, Joshi D, Grady P, et al. Lung transplantation after 125 days on ECMO for severe refractory hypoxemia with no prior lung disease. ASAIO J. 2017;63(5):e66-8.) days.

Fifteen studies(1919 Bain JC, Turner DA, Rehder KJ, Eisenstein EL, Davis RD, Cheifetz IM, et al. Economic outcomes of extracorporeal membrane oxygenation with and without ambulation as a bridge to lung transplantation. Respir Care. 2016;61(1):1-7.

20 Carswell A, Roberts A, Rosenberg A, Zych B, Garcia D, Simon A, et al. Mobilisation of patients with veno-venous extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (VV ECMO): A case series. Eur J Heart Fail. 2017;19(Suppl 2):26-7.

21 Cork G, Barrett N, Ntoumenopoulos G. Justification for chest physiotherapy during ultra-protective lung ventilation and extra-corporeal membrane oxygenation: a case study. Physiother Res Int. 2014;19(2):126-8.

22 Dennis DR, Boling B, Tribble TA, Rajagopalan N, Hoopes CW. Safety of nurse driven ambulation for patients on venovenous extracorporeal membrane oxygenation. J Heart Lung Transplant. 2014;33(4 Suppl):S301.

23 Hermens JA, Braithwaite SA, Heijnen G, van Dijk D, Donker DW. Awake' extracorporeal membrane oxygenation requires adequate lower body muscle training and mobilisation as sucessful bridge to lung transplant. Intensive Care Med Exp. 2015;3(Suppl 1):A510.

24 Keibun R. Awake ECMO and active rehabilitation strategies for venovenous ECMO as a bridge to recovery. Crit Care Med. 2016;44(12 Suppl):321.
-2525 Kikukawa T, Ogura T, Harasawa T, Suzuki H, Nakano M. H1N1 influenza-associated pneumonia with severe obesity: successful management with awake veno-venous extracorporeal membrane oxygenation and early respiratory physical therapy. Acute Med Surg. 2015;3(2):186-9.,2727 Kulkarni T, Teerapuncharoen K, Trevor J, Wille K, Diaz-Guzman E. Ambulatory low blood flow extracorporeal membrane oxygenation in a patient with refractory status asthmaticus. Am J Respir Crit Care Med. 2015;191:A4564.,2828 Morris K, Barrett N, Curtis A. Exercise on ECMO: an evolving science. J Intensive Care Soc. 2014;15(1 Suppl):S60-1.,3131 Pastva A, Kirk T, Parry SM. Functional electrical stimulation cycling pre-and post-bilateral orthotopic lung transplantation: A case report. Am J Respir Crit Care Med. 2015;191:A1643.

32 Pruijstein R, van Thiel R, Hool S, Saeijs M, Verbiest M, Reis Miranda D. Mobilization of patients on venovenous extracorporeal membrane oxygenation support using an ECMO helmet. Intensive Care Med. 2014;40(10):1595-7.

33 Rahimi RA, Skrzat J, Reddy DR, Zanni JM, Fan E, Stephens RS, et al. Physical rehabilitation of patients in the intensive care unit requiring extracorporeal membrane oxygenation: a small case series. Phys Ther. 2013;93(2):248-55.

34 Rehder KJ, Turner DA, Hartwig MG, Williford WL, Bonadonna D, Walczak RJ Jr, et al. Active rehabilitation during extracorporeal membrane oxygenation as a bridge to lung transplantation. Respir Care. 2013;58(8):1291-8.

35 Salam S, Kotloff R, Garcha P, Krishnan S, Joshi D, Grady P, et al. Lung transplantation after 125 days on ECMO for severe refractory hypoxemia with no prior lung disease. ASAIO J. 2017;63(5):e66-8.
-3636 Turner DA, Cheifetz IM, Rehder KJ, Williford WL, Bonadonna D, Banuelos SJ, et al. Active rehabilitation and physical therapy during extracorporeal membrane oxygenation while awaiting lung transplantation: a practical approach. Crit Care Med. 2011;39(12):2593-8.) involving 91 patients used VV ECMO, whereas one study(3737 Wells CL, Forreseter J, Vogel J, Rector R, Herr D. The feasibility and safety in providing early rehabilitation and ambulation for adults on percutaneous venous to arterial extracorporeal membrane oxygenation support. Am J Respir Crit Care Med. 2017;195:A2710.) involving 112 patients used VA ECMO. Four studies(1111 Abrams D, Javidfar J, Farrand E, Mongero LB, Agerstrand CL, Ryan P, et al. Early mobilization of patients receiving extracorporeal membrane oxygenation: a retrospective cohort study. Crit Care. 2014;18(1):R38.,2626 Ko Y, Cho YH, Park YH, Lee H, Suh GY, Yang JH, et al. Feasibility and safety of early physical therapy and active mobilization for patients on extracorporeal membrane oxygenation. ASAIO J. 2015;61(5):564-8.,2929 Munshi L, Kobayashi T, DeBacker J, Doobay R, Telesnick T, Lo V, et al. Intensive care physiotherapy during extracorporeal membrane oxygenation for acute respiratory distress syndrome. Ann Am Thorac Soc. 2017;14(2):246-53.,3030 Norrenberg M, Gleize A, Preiser JC. Impact of restricted hip moviment during ECMO on later joint mobility. Intensive Care Med Exp. 2016;4(Suppl 1):A579.) used both VV ECMO (100 patients) and VA ECMO (14 patients), and one of these studies(2929 Munshi L, Kobayashi T, DeBacker J, Doobay R, Telesnick T, Lo V, et al. Intensive care physiotherapy during extracorporeal membrane oxygenation for acute respiratory distress syndrome. Ann Am Thorac Soc. 2017;14(2):246-53.) used VAV ECMO in four patients. A total of 191, 126, and four patients underwent VV, VA, and VAV cannulation, respectively. The characteristics of ECMO support are described in table 2.

Physical therapy techniques

Nineteen studies(1111 Abrams D, Javidfar J, Farrand E, Mongero LB, Agerstrand CL, Ryan P, et al. Early mobilization of patients receiving extracorporeal membrane oxygenation: a retrospective cohort study. Crit Care. 2014;18(1):R38.,1919 Bain JC, Turner DA, Rehder KJ, Eisenstein EL, Davis RD, Cheifetz IM, et al. Economic outcomes of extracorporeal membrane oxygenation with and without ambulation as a bridge to lung transplantation. Respir Care. 2016;61(1):1-7.

20 Carswell A, Roberts A, Rosenberg A, Zych B, Garcia D, Simon A, et al. Mobilisation of patients with veno-venous extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (VV ECMO): A case series. Eur J Heart Fail. 2017;19(Suppl 2):26-7.

21 Cork G, Barrett N, Ntoumenopoulos G. Justification for chest physiotherapy during ultra-protective lung ventilation and extra-corporeal membrane oxygenation: a case study. Physiother Res Int. 2014;19(2):126-8.

22 Dennis DR, Boling B, Tribble TA, Rajagopalan N, Hoopes CW. Safety of nurse driven ambulation for patients on venovenous extracorporeal membrane oxygenation. J Heart Lung Transplant. 2014;33(4 Suppl):S301.
-2323 Hermens JA, Braithwaite SA, Heijnen G, van Dijk D, Donker DW. Awake' extracorporeal membrane oxygenation requires adequate lower body muscle training and mobilisation as sucessful bridge to lung transplant. Intensive Care Med Exp. 2015;3(Suppl 1):A510.,2525 Kikukawa T, Ogura T, Harasawa T, Suzuki H, Nakano M. H1N1 influenza-associated pneumonia with severe obesity: successful management with awake veno-venous extracorporeal membrane oxygenation and early respiratory physical therapy. Acute Med Surg. 2015;3(2):186-9.

26 Ko Y, Cho YH, Park YH, Lee H, Suh GY, Yang JH, et al. Feasibility and safety of early physical therapy and active mobilization for patients on extracorporeal membrane oxygenation. ASAIO J. 2015;61(5):564-8.

27 Kulkarni T, Teerapuncharoen K, Trevor J, Wille K, Diaz-Guzman E. Ambulatory low blood flow extracorporeal membrane oxygenation in a patient with refractory status asthmaticus. Am J Respir Crit Care Med. 2015;191:A4564.

28 Morris K, Barrett N, Curtis A. Exercise on ECMO: an evolving science. J Intensive Care Soc. 2014;15(1 Suppl):S60-1.

29 Munshi L, Kobayashi T, DeBacker J, Doobay R, Telesnick T, Lo V, et al. Intensive care physiotherapy during extracorporeal membrane oxygenation for acute respiratory distress syndrome. Ann Am Thorac Soc. 2017;14(2):246-53.

30 Norrenberg M, Gleize A, Preiser JC. Impact of restricted hip moviment during ECMO on later joint mobility. Intensive Care Med Exp. 2016;4(Suppl 1):A579.

31 Pastva A, Kirk T, Parry SM. Functional electrical stimulation cycling pre-and post-bilateral orthotopic lung transplantation: A case report. Am J Respir Crit Care Med. 2015;191:A1643.

32 Pruijstein R, van Thiel R, Hool S, Saeijs M, Verbiest M, Reis Miranda D. Mobilization of patients on venovenous extracorporeal membrane oxygenation support using an ECMO helmet. Intensive Care Med. 2014;40(10):1595-7.

33 Rahimi RA, Skrzat J, Reddy DR, Zanni JM, Fan E, Stephens RS, et al. Physical rehabilitation of patients in the intensive care unit requiring extracorporeal membrane oxygenation: a small case series. Phys Ther. 2013;93(2):248-55.

34 Rehder KJ, Turner DA, Hartwig MG, Williford WL, Bonadonna D, Walczak RJ Jr, et al. Active rehabilitation during extracorporeal membrane oxygenation as a bridge to lung transplantation. Respir Care. 2013;58(8):1291-8.

35 Salam S, Kotloff R, Garcha P, Krishnan S, Joshi D, Grady P, et al. Lung transplantation after 125 days on ECMO for severe refractory hypoxemia with no prior lung disease. ASAIO J. 2017;63(5):e66-8.

36 Turner DA, Cheifetz IM, Rehder KJ, Williford WL, Bonadonna D, Banuelos SJ, et al. Active rehabilitation and physical therapy during extracorporeal membrane oxygenation while awaiting lung transplantation: a practical approach. Crit Care Med. 2011;39(12):2593-8.
-3737 Wells CL, Forreseter J, Vogel J, Rector R, Herr D. The feasibility and safety in providing early rehabilitation and ambulation for adults on percutaneous venous to arterial extracorporeal membrane oxygenation support. Am J Respir Crit Care Med. 2017;195:A2710.) performed physical rehabilitation using different techniques and physical exercises, including active-assisted exercises (17 studies),(1111 Abrams D, Javidfar J, Farrand E, Mongero LB, Agerstrand CL, Ryan P, et al. Early mobilization of patients receiving extracorporeal membrane oxygenation: a retrospective cohort study. Crit Care. 2014;18(1):R38.,1919 Bain JC, Turner DA, Rehder KJ, Eisenstein EL, Davis RD, Cheifetz IM, et al. Economic outcomes of extracorporeal membrane oxygenation with and without ambulation as a bridge to lung transplantation. Respir Care. 2016;61(1):1-7.,2020 Carswell A, Roberts A, Rosenberg A, Zych B, Garcia D, Simon A, et al. Mobilisation of patients with veno-venous extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (VV ECMO): A case series. Eur J Heart Fail. 2017;19(Suppl 2):26-7.,2222 Dennis DR, Boling B, Tribble TA, Rajagopalan N, Hoopes CW. Safety of nurse driven ambulation for patients on venovenous extracorporeal membrane oxygenation. J Heart Lung Transplant. 2014;33(4 Suppl):S301.,2323 Hermens JA, Braithwaite SA, Heijnen G, van Dijk D, Donker DW. Awake' extracorporeal membrane oxygenation requires adequate lower body muscle training and mobilisation as sucessful bridge to lung transplant. Intensive Care Med Exp. 2015;3(Suppl 1):A510.,2626 Ko Y, Cho YH, Park YH, Lee H, Suh GY, Yang JH, et al. Feasibility and safety of early physical therapy and active mobilization for patients on extracorporeal membrane oxygenation. ASAIO J. 2015;61(5):564-8.

27 Kulkarni T, Teerapuncharoen K, Trevor J, Wille K, Diaz-Guzman E. Ambulatory low blood flow extracorporeal membrane oxygenation in a patient with refractory status asthmaticus. Am J Respir Crit Care Med. 2015;191:A4564.

28 Morris K, Barrett N, Curtis A. Exercise on ECMO: an evolving science. J Intensive Care Soc. 2014;15(1 Suppl):S60-1.

29 Munshi L, Kobayashi T, DeBacker J, Doobay R, Telesnick T, Lo V, et al. Intensive care physiotherapy during extracorporeal membrane oxygenation for acute respiratory distress syndrome. Ann Am Thorac Soc. 2017;14(2):246-53.

30 Norrenberg M, Gleize A, Preiser JC. Impact of restricted hip moviment during ECMO on later joint mobility. Intensive Care Med Exp. 2016;4(Suppl 1):A579.

31 Pastva A, Kirk T, Parry SM. Functional electrical stimulation cycling pre-and post-bilateral orthotopic lung transplantation: A case report. Am J Respir Crit Care Med. 2015;191:A1643.

32 Pruijstein R, van Thiel R, Hool S, Saeijs M, Verbiest M, Reis Miranda D. Mobilization of patients on venovenous extracorporeal membrane oxygenation support using an ECMO helmet. Intensive Care Med. 2014;40(10):1595-7.

33 Rahimi RA, Skrzat J, Reddy DR, Zanni JM, Fan E, Stephens RS, et al. Physical rehabilitation of patients in the intensive care unit requiring extracorporeal membrane oxygenation: a small case series. Phys Ther. 2013;93(2):248-55.

34 Rehder KJ, Turner DA, Hartwig MG, Williford WL, Bonadonna D, Walczak RJ Jr, et al. Active rehabilitation during extracorporeal membrane oxygenation as a bridge to lung transplantation. Respir Care. 2013;58(8):1291-8.

35 Salam S, Kotloff R, Garcha P, Krishnan S, Joshi D, Grady P, et al. Lung transplantation after 125 days on ECMO for severe refractory hypoxemia with no prior lung disease. ASAIO J. 2017;63(5):e66-8.

36 Turner DA, Cheifetz IM, Rehder KJ, Williford WL, Bonadonna D, Banuelos SJ, et al. Active rehabilitation and physical therapy during extracorporeal membrane oxygenation while awaiting lung transplantation: a practical approach. Crit Care Med. 2011;39(12):2593-8.
-3737 Wells CL, Forreseter J, Vogel J, Rector R, Herr D. The feasibility and safety in providing early rehabilitation and ambulation for adults on percutaneous venous to arterial extracorporeal membrane oxygenation support. Am J Respir Crit Care Med. 2017;195:A2710.) sitting (12 studies),(1111 Abrams D, Javidfar J, Farrand E, Mongero LB, Agerstrand CL, Ryan P, et al. Early mobilization of patients receiving extracorporeal membrane oxygenation: a retrospective cohort study. Crit Care. 2014;18(1):R38.,2020 Carswell A, Roberts A, Rosenberg A, Zych B, Garcia D, Simon A, et al. Mobilisation of patients with veno-venous extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (VV ECMO): A case series. Eur J Heart Fail. 2017;19(Suppl 2):26-7.,2323 Hermens JA, Braithwaite SA, Heijnen G, van Dijk D, Donker DW. Awake' extracorporeal membrane oxygenation requires adequate lower body muscle training and mobilisation as sucessful bridge to lung transplant. Intensive Care Med Exp. 2015;3(Suppl 1):A510.,2525 Kikukawa T, Ogura T, Harasawa T, Suzuki H, Nakano M. H1N1 influenza-associated pneumonia with severe obesity: successful management with awake veno-venous extracorporeal membrane oxygenation and early respiratory physical therapy. Acute Med Surg. 2015;3(2):186-9.,2626 Ko Y, Cho YH, Park YH, Lee H, Suh GY, Yang JH, et al. Feasibility and safety of early physical therapy and active mobilization for patients on extracorporeal membrane oxygenation. ASAIO J. 2015;61(5):564-8.,2828 Morris K, Barrett N, Curtis A. Exercise on ECMO: an evolving science. J Intensive Care Soc. 2014;15(1 Suppl):S60-1.,2929 Munshi L, Kobayashi T, DeBacker J, Doobay R, Telesnick T, Lo V, et al. Intensive care physiotherapy during extracorporeal membrane oxygenation for acute respiratory distress syndrome. Ann Am Thorac Soc. 2017;14(2):246-53.,3232 Pruijstein R, van Thiel R, Hool S, Saeijs M, Verbiest M, Reis Miranda D. Mobilization of patients on venovenous extracorporeal membrane oxygenation support using an ECMO helmet. Intensive Care Med. 2014;40(10):1595-7.

33 Rahimi RA, Skrzat J, Reddy DR, Zanni JM, Fan E, Stephens RS, et al. Physical rehabilitation of patients in the intensive care unit requiring extracorporeal membrane oxygenation: a small case series. Phys Ther. 2013;93(2):248-55.

34 Rehder KJ, Turner DA, Hartwig MG, Williford WL, Bonadonna D, Walczak RJ Jr, et al. Active rehabilitation during extracorporeal membrane oxygenation as a bridge to lung transplantation. Respir Care. 2013;58(8):1291-8.
-3535 Salam S, Kotloff R, Garcha P, Krishnan S, Joshi D, Grady P, et al. Lung transplantation after 125 days on ECMO for severe refractory hypoxemia with no prior lung disease. ASAIO J. 2017;63(5):e66-8.,3737 Wells CL, Forreseter J, Vogel J, Rector R, Herr D. The feasibility and safety in providing early rehabilitation and ambulation for adults on percutaneous venous to arterial extracorporeal membrane oxygenation support. Am J Respir Crit Care Med. 2017;195:A2710.) standing (12 studies),(1111 Abrams D, Javidfar J, Farrand E, Mongero LB, Agerstrand CL, Ryan P, et al. Early mobilization of patients receiving extracorporeal membrane oxygenation: a retrospective cohort study. Crit Care. 2014;18(1):R38.,1919 Bain JC, Turner DA, Rehder KJ, Eisenstein EL, Davis RD, Cheifetz IM, et al. Economic outcomes of extracorporeal membrane oxygenation with and without ambulation as a bridge to lung transplantation. Respir Care. 2016;61(1):1-7.,2020 Carswell A, Roberts A, Rosenberg A, Zych B, Garcia D, Simon A, et al. Mobilisation of patients with veno-venous extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (VV ECMO): A case series. Eur J Heart Fail. 2017;19(Suppl 2):26-7.,2222 Dennis DR, Boling B, Tribble TA, Rajagopalan N, Hoopes CW. Safety of nurse driven ambulation for patients on venovenous extracorporeal membrane oxygenation. J Heart Lung Transplant. 2014;33(4 Suppl):S301.,2626 Ko Y, Cho YH, Park YH, Lee H, Suh GY, Yang JH, et al. Feasibility and safety of early physical therapy and active mobilization for patients on extracorporeal membrane oxygenation. ASAIO J. 2015;61(5):564-8.,2727 Kulkarni T, Teerapuncharoen K, Trevor J, Wille K, Diaz-Guzman E. Ambulatory low blood flow extracorporeal membrane oxygenation in a patient with refractory status asthmaticus. Am J Respir Crit Care Med. 2015;191:A4564.,2929 Munshi L, Kobayashi T, DeBacker J, Doobay R, Telesnick T, Lo V, et al. Intensive care physiotherapy during extracorporeal membrane oxygenation for acute respiratory distress syndrome. Ann Am Thorac Soc. 2017;14(2):246-53.,3232 Pruijstein R, van Thiel R, Hool S, Saeijs M, Verbiest M, Reis Miranda D. Mobilization of patients on venovenous extracorporeal membrane oxygenation support using an ECMO helmet. Intensive Care Med. 2014;40(10):1595-7.,3434 Rehder KJ, Turner DA, Hartwig MG, Williford WL, Bonadonna D, Walczak RJ Jr, et al. Active rehabilitation during extracorporeal membrane oxygenation as a bridge to lung transplantation. Respir Care. 2013;58(8):1291-8.

35 Salam S, Kotloff R, Garcha P, Krishnan S, Joshi D, Grady P, et al. Lung transplantation after 125 days on ECMO for severe refractory hypoxemia with no prior lung disease. ASAIO J. 2017;63(5):e66-8.

36 Turner DA, Cheifetz IM, Rehder KJ, Williford WL, Bonadonna D, Banuelos SJ, et al. Active rehabilitation and physical therapy during extracorporeal membrane oxygenation while awaiting lung transplantation: a practical approach. Crit Care Med. 2011;39(12):2593-8.
-3737 Wells CL, Forreseter J, Vogel J, Rector R, Herr D. The feasibility and safety in providing early rehabilitation and ambulation for adults on percutaneous venous to arterial extracorporeal membrane oxygenation support. Am J Respir Crit Care Med. 2017;195:A2710.) passive mobilization (five studies),(2626 Ko Y, Cho YH, Park YH, Lee H, Suh GY, Yang JH, et al. Feasibility and safety of early physical therapy and active mobilization for patients on extracorporeal membrane oxygenation. ASAIO J. 2015;61(5):564-8.,2828 Morris K, Barrett N, Curtis A. Exercise on ECMO: an evolving science. J Intensive Care Soc. 2014;15(1 Suppl):S60-1.,2929 Munshi L, Kobayashi T, DeBacker J, Doobay R, Telesnick T, Lo V, et al. Intensive care physiotherapy during extracorporeal membrane oxygenation for acute respiratory distress syndrome. Ann Am Thorac Soc. 2017;14(2):246-53.,3030 Norrenberg M, Gleize A, Preiser JC. Impact of restricted hip moviment during ECMO on later joint mobility. Intensive Care Med Exp. 2016;4(Suppl 1):A579.,3737 Wells CL, Forreseter J, Vogel J, Rector R, Herr D. The feasibility and safety in providing early rehabilitation and ambulation for adults on percutaneous venous to arterial extracorporeal membrane oxygenation support. Am J Respir Crit Care Med. 2017;195:A2710.) resistance exercises (four studies),(2323 Hermens JA, Braithwaite SA, Heijnen G, van Dijk D, Donker DW. Awake' extracorporeal membrane oxygenation requires adequate lower body muscle training and mobilisation as sucessful bridge to lung transplant. Intensive Care Med Exp. 2015;3(Suppl 1):A510.,3434 Rehder KJ, Turner DA, Hartwig MG, Williford WL, Bonadonna D, Walczak RJ Jr, et al. Active rehabilitation during extracorporeal membrane oxygenation as a bridge to lung transplantation. Respir Care. 2013;58(8):1291-8.

35 Salam S, Kotloff R, Garcha P, Krishnan S, Joshi D, Grady P, et al. Lung transplantation after 125 days on ECMO for severe refractory hypoxemia with no prior lung disease. ASAIO J. 2017;63(5):e66-8.
-3636 Turner DA, Cheifetz IM, Rehder KJ, Williford WL, Bonadonna D, Banuelos SJ, et al. Active rehabilitation and physical therapy during extracorporeal membrane oxygenation while awaiting lung transplantation: a practical approach. Crit Care Med. 2011;39(12):2593-8.) positioning in bed (one study),(2121 Cork G, Barrett N, Ntoumenopoulos G. Justification for chest physiotherapy during ultra-protective lung ventilation and extra-corporeal membrane oxygenation: a case study. Physiother Res Int. 2014;19(2):126-8.) stretching (one study),(3434 Rehder KJ, Turner DA, Hartwig MG, Williford WL, Bonadonna D, Walczak RJ Jr, et al. Active rehabilitation during extracorporeal membrane oxygenation as a bridge to lung transplantation. Respir Care. 2013;58(8):1291-8.) and functional electrical stimulation (FES) of the lower limb muscles combined with cycling (one study).(3131 Pastva A, Kirk T, Parry SM. Functional electrical stimulation cycling pre-and post-bilateral orthotopic lung transplantation: A case report. Am J Respir Crit Care Med. 2015;191:A1643.) In addition, 93 patients from 11 studies(1111 Abrams D, Javidfar J, Farrand E, Mongero LB, Agerstrand CL, Ryan P, et al. Early mobilization of patients receiving extracorporeal membrane oxygenation: a retrospective cohort study. Crit Care. 2014;18(1):R38.,1919 Bain JC, Turner DA, Rehder KJ, Eisenstein EL, Davis RD, Cheifetz IM, et al. Economic outcomes of extracorporeal membrane oxygenation with and without ambulation as a bridge to lung transplantation. Respir Care. 2016;61(1):1-7.,2020 Carswell A, Roberts A, Rosenberg A, Zych B, Garcia D, Simon A, et al. Mobilisation of patients with veno-venous extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (VV ECMO): A case series. Eur J Heart Fail. 2017;19(Suppl 2):26-7.,2222 Dennis DR, Boling B, Tribble TA, Rajagopalan N, Hoopes CW. Safety of nurse driven ambulation for patients on venovenous extracorporeal membrane oxygenation. J Heart Lung Transplant. 2014;33(4 Suppl):S301.,2626 Ko Y, Cho YH, Park YH, Lee H, Suh GY, Yang JH, et al. Feasibility and safety of early physical therapy and active mobilization for patients on extracorporeal membrane oxygenation. ASAIO J. 2015;61(5):564-8.,2727 Kulkarni T, Teerapuncharoen K, Trevor J, Wille K, Diaz-Guzman E. Ambulatory low blood flow extracorporeal membrane oxygenation in a patient with refractory status asthmaticus. Am J Respir Crit Care Med. 2015;191:A4564.,3232 Pruijstein R, van Thiel R, Hool S, Saeijs M, Verbiest M, Reis Miranda D. Mobilization of patients on venovenous extracorporeal membrane oxygenation support using an ECMO helmet. Intensive Care Med. 2014;40(10):1595-7.,3434 Rehder KJ, Turner DA, Hartwig MG, Williford WL, Bonadonna D, Walczak RJ Jr, et al. Active rehabilitation during extracorporeal membrane oxygenation as a bridge to lung transplantation. Respir Care. 2013;58(8):1291-8.

35 Salam S, Kotloff R, Garcha P, Krishnan S, Joshi D, Grady P, et al. Lung transplantation after 125 days on ECMO for severe refractory hypoxemia with no prior lung disease. ASAIO J. 2017;63(5):e66-8.

36 Turner DA, Cheifetz IM, Rehder KJ, Williford WL, Bonadonna D, Banuelos SJ, et al. Active rehabilitation and physical therapy during extracorporeal membrane oxygenation while awaiting lung transplantation: a practical approach. Crit Care Med. 2011;39(12):2593-8.
-3737 Wells CL, Forreseter J, Vogel J, Rector R, Herr D. The feasibility and safety in providing early rehabilitation and ambulation for adults on percutaneous venous to arterial extracorporeal membrane oxygenation support. Am J Respir Crit Care Med. 2017;195:A2710.) walked during ECMO support. Keibun(2424 Keibun R. Awake ECMO and active rehabilitation strategies for venovenous ECMO as a bridge to recovery. Crit Care Med. 2016;44(12 Suppl):321.) reported that the intervention group (IG) (n = 10) underwent PT + VV ECMO. The characteristics of the PT interventions of each study are described in table 3.

Table 3
Description of the interventions and outcomes

Safety of physical therapy

Adverse events

Among the 20 selected studies, 12 studies(1111 Abrams D, Javidfar J, Farrand E, Mongero LB, Agerstrand CL, Ryan P, et al. Early mobilization of patients receiving extracorporeal membrane oxygenation: a retrospective cohort study. Crit Care. 2014;18(1):R38.,2222 Dennis DR, Boling B, Tribble TA, Rajagopalan N, Hoopes CW. Safety of nurse driven ambulation for patients on venovenous extracorporeal membrane oxygenation. J Heart Lung Transplant. 2014;33(4 Suppl):S301.,2525 Kikukawa T, Ogura T, Harasawa T, Suzuki H, Nakano M. H1N1 influenza-associated pneumonia with severe obesity: successful management with awake veno-venous extracorporeal membrane oxygenation and early respiratory physical therapy. Acute Med Surg. 2015;3(2):186-9.,2727 Kulkarni T, Teerapuncharoen K, Trevor J, Wille K, Diaz-Guzman E. Ambulatory low blood flow extracorporeal membrane oxygenation in a patient with refractory status asthmaticus. Am J Respir Crit Care Med. 2015;191:A4564.,2929 Munshi L, Kobayashi T, DeBacker J, Doobay R, Telesnick T, Lo V, et al. Intensive care physiotherapy during extracorporeal membrane oxygenation for acute respiratory distress syndrome. Ann Am Thorac Soc. 2017;14(2):246-53.

30 Norrenberg M, Gleize A, Preiser JC. Impact of restricted hip moviment during ECMO on later joint mobility. Intensive Care Med Exp. 2016;4(Suppl 1):A579.

31 Pastva A, Kirk T, Parry SM. Functional electrical stimulation cycling pre-and post-bilateral orthotopic lung transplantation: A case report. Am J Respir Crit Care Med. 2015;191:A1643.

32 Pruijstein R, van Thiel R, Hool S, Saeijs M, Verbiest M, Reis Miranda D. Mobilization of patients on venovenous extracorporeal membrane oxygenation support using an ECMO helmet. Intensive Care Med. 2014;40(10):1595-7.

33 Rahimi RA, Skrzat J, Reddy DR, Zanni JM, Fan E, Stephens RS, et al. Physical rehabilitation of patients in the intensive care unit requiring extracorporeal membrane oxygenation: a small case series. Phys Ther. 2013;93(2):248-55.
-3434 Rehder KJ, Turner DA, Hartwig MG, Williford WL, Bonadonna D, Walczak RJ Jr, et al. Active rehabilitation during extracorporeal membrane oxygenation as a bridge to lung transplantation. Respir Care. 2013;58(8):1291-8.,3636 Turner DA, Cheifetz IM, Rehder KJ, Williford WL, Bonadonna D, Banuelos SJ, et al. Active rehabilitation and physical therapy during extracorporeal membrane oxygenation while awaiting lung transplantation: a practical approach. Crit Care Med. 2011;39(12):2593-8.,3737 Wells CL, Forreseter J, Vogel J, Rector R, Herr D. The feasibility and safety in providing early rehabilitation and ambulation for adults on percutaneous venous to arterial extracorporeal membrane oxygenation support. Am J Respir Crit Care Med. 2017;195:A2710.) did not report complications from PT combined with ECMO. Carswell et al.(2020 Carswell A, Roberts A, Rosenberg A, Zych B, Garcia D, Simon A, et al. Mobilisation of patients with veno-venous extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (VV ECMO): A case series. Eur J Heart Fail. 2017;19(Suppl 2):26-7.) reported that there was a decrease in peripheral oxygen saturation or vertigo during mobilization in some patients, but recovery at rest was rapid. These complications were classified as transient and mild. In the case study of Morris et al.,(2828 Morris K, Barrett N, Curtis A. Exercise on ECMO: an evolving science. J Intensive Care Soc. 2014;15(1 Suppl):S60-1.) the decrease in peripheral oxygen saturation was sufficiently compensated for by increased blood flow during ECMO. Ko et al.(2626 Ko Y, Cho YH, Park YH, Lee H, Suh GY, Yang JH, et al. Feasibility and safety of early physical therapy and active mobilization for patients on extracorporeal membrane oxygenation. ASAIO J. 2015;61(5):564-8.) reported that three therapy sessions were interrupted (without defining the number of patients involved) - one due to tachycardia and two due to tachypnea - during standing or stationary gait training.

One study(2323 Hermens JA, Braithwaite SA, Heijnen G, van Dijk D, Donker DW. Awake' extracorporeal membrane oxygenation requires adequate lower body muscle training and mobilisation as sucessful bridge to lung transplant. Intensive Care Med Exp. 2015;3(Suppl 1):A510.) reported the occurrence of complications from femoro-femoral cannulation (one case that evolved with severe leg swelling and another with an obstructive thrombus in the return cannula). Salam et al.(3535 Salam S, Kotloff R, Garcha P, Krishnan S, Joshi D, Grady P, et al. Lung transplantation after 125 days on ECMO for severe refractory hypoxemia with no prior lung disease. ASAIO J. 2017;63(5):e66-8.) observed the occurrence of cannula fracture during ambulation. Three studies(1919 Bain JC, Turner DA, Rehder KJ, Eisenstein EL, Davis RD, Cheifetz IM, et al. Economic outcomes of extracorporeal membrane oxygenation with and without ambulation as a bridge to lung transplantation. Respir Care. 2016;61(1):1-7.,2121 Cork G, Barrett N, Ntoumenopoulos G. Justification for chest physiotherapy during ultra-protective lung ventilation and extra-corporeal membrane oxygenation: a case study. Physiother Res Int. 2014;19(2):126-8.,2424 Keibun R. Awake ECMO and active rehabilitation strategies for venovenous ECMO as a bridge to recovery. Crit Care Med. 2016;44(12 Suppl):321.) did not report the safety outcomes of the adopted PT techniques. Therefore, of the 259 patients who underwent PT in the included studies,(1111 Abrams D, Javidfar J, Farrand E, Mongero LB, Agerstrand CL, Ryan P, et al. Early mobilization of patients receiving extracorporeal membrane oxygenation: a retrospective cohort study. Crit Care. 2014;18(1):R38.,1919 Bain JC, Turner DA, Rehder KJ, Eisenstein EL, Davis RD, Cheifetz IM, et al. Economic outcomes of extracorporeal membrane oxygenation with and without ambulation as a bridge to lung transplantation. Respir Care. 2016;61(1):1-7.

20 Carswell A, Roberts A, Rosenberg A, Zych B, Garcia D, Simon A, et al. Mobilisation of patients with veno-venous extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (VV ECMO): A case series. Eur J Heart Fail. 2017;19(Suppl 2):26-7.

21 Cork G, Barrett N, Ntoumenopoulos G. Justification for chest physiotherapy during ultra-protective lung ventilation and extra-corporeal membrane oxygenation: a case study. Physiother Res Int. 2014;19(2):126-8.

22 Dennis DR, Boling B, Tribble TA, Rajagopalan N, Hoopes CW. Safety of nurse driven ambulation for patients on venovenous extracorporeal membrane oxygenation. J Heart Lung Transplant. 2014;33(4 Suppl):S301.

23 Hermens JA, Braithwaite SA, Heijnen G, van Dijk D, Donker DW. Awake' extracorporeal membrane oxygenation requires adequate lower body muscle training and mobilisation as sucessful bridge to lung transplant. Intensive Care Med Exp. 2015;3(Suppl 1):A510.

24 Keibun R. Awake ECMO and active rehabilitation strategies for venovenous ECMO as a bridge to recovery. Crit Care Med. 2016;44(12 Suppl):321.

25 Kikukawa T, Ogura T, Harasawa T, Suzuki H, Nakano M. H1N1 influenza-associated pneumonia with severe obesity: successful management with awake veno-venous extracorporeal membrane oxygenation and early respiratory physical therapy. Acute Med Surg. 2015;3(2):186-9.

26 Ko Y, Cho YH, Park YH, Lee H, Suh GY, Yang JH, et al. Feasibility and safety of early physical therapy and active mobilization for patients on extracorporeal membrane oxygenation. ASAIO J. 2015;61(5):564-8.

27 Kulkarni T, Teerapuncharoen K, Trevor J, Wille K, Diaz-Guzman E. Ambulatory low blood flow extracorporeal membrane oxygenation in a patient with refractory status asthmaticus. Am J Respir Crit Care Med. 2015;191:A4564.

28 Morris K, Barrett N, Curtis A. Exercise on ECMO: an evolving science. J Intensive Care Soc. 2014;15(1 Suppl):S60-1.

29 Munshi L, Kobayashi T, DeBacker J, Doobay R, Telesnick T, Lo V, et al. Intensive care physiotherapy during extracorporeal membrane oxygenation for acute respiratory distress syndrome. Ann Am Thorac Soc. 2017;14(2):246-53.

30 Norrenberg M, Gleize A, Preiser JC. Impact of restricted hip moviment during ECMO on later joint mobility. Intensive Care Med Exp. 2016;4(Suppl 1):A579.

31 Pastva A, Kirk T, Parry SM. Functional electrical stimulation cycling pre-and post-bilateral orthotopic lung transplantation: A case report. Am J Respir Crit Care Med. 2015;191:A1643.

32 Pruijstein R, van Thiel R, Hool S, Saeijs M, Verbiest M, Reis Miranda D. Mobilization of patients on venovenous extracorporeal membrane oxygenation support using an ECMO helmet. Intensive Care Med. 2014;40(10):1595-7.

33 Rahimi RA, Skrzat J, Reddy DR, Zanni JM, Fan E, Stephens RS, et al. Physical rehabilitation of patients in the intensive care unit requiring extracorporeal membrane oxygenation: a small case series. Phys Ther. 2013;93(2):248-55.

34 Rehder KJ, Turner DA, Hartwig MG, Williford WL, Bonadonna D, Walczak RJ Jr, et al. Active rehabilitation during extracorporeal membrane oxygenation as a bridge to lung transplantation. Respir Care. 2013;58(8):1291-8.

35 Salam S, Kotloff R, Garcha P, Krishnan S, Joshi D, Grady P, et al. Lung transplantation after 125 days on ECMO for severe refractory hypoxemia with no prior lung disease. ASAIO J. 2017;63(5):e66-8.

36 Turner DA, Cheifetz IM, Rehder KJ, Williford WL, Bonadonna D, Banuelos SJ, et al. Active rehabilitation and physical therapy during extracorporeal membrane oxygenation while awaiting lung transplantation: a practical approach. Crit Care Med. 2011;39(12):2593-8.
-3737 Wells CL, Forreseter J, Vogel J, Rector R, Herr D. The feasibility and safety in providing early rehabilitation and ambulation for adults on percutaneous venous to arterial extracorporeal membrane oxygenation support. Am J Respir Crit Care Med. 2017;195:A2710.) four patients(2323 Hermens JA, Braithwaite SA, Heijnen G, van Dijk D, Donker DW. Awake' extracorporeal membrane oxygenation requires adequate lower body muscle training and mobilisation as sucessful bridge to lung transplant. Intensive Care Med Exp. 2015;3(Suppl 1):A510.,2828 Morris K, Barrett N, Curtis A. Exercise on ECMO: an evolving science. J Intensive Care Soc. 2014;15(1 Suppl):S60-1.,3535 Salam S, Kotloff R, Garcha P, Krishnan S, Joshi D, Grady P, et al. Lung transplantation after 125 days on ECMO for severe refractory hypoxemia with no prior lung disease. ASAIO J. 2017;63(5):e66-8.) to a maximum of 18 patients (considering all eight patients included in the study by Carswell et al.(2020 Carswell A, Roberts A, Rosenberg A, Zych B, Garcia D, Simon A, et al. Mobilisation of patients with veno-venous extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (VV ECMO): A case series. Eur J Heart Fail. 2017;19(Suppl 2):26-7.) and that each of the three interrupted sessions in the study by Ko et al.(2626 Ko Y, Cho YH, Park YH, Lee H, Suh GY, Yang JH, et al. Feasibility and safety of early physical therapy and active mobilization for patients on extracorporeal membrane oxygenation. ASAIO J. 2015;61(5):564-8.) occurred with a different patient) presented adverse events during the interventions. The safety outcomes described in the studies are presented in table 3.

Mortality

Eight studies(1111 Abrams D, Javidfar J, Farrand E, Mongero LB, Agerstrand CL, Ryan P, et al. Early mobilization of patients receiving extracorporeal membrane oxygenation: a retrospective cohort study. Crit Care. 2014;18(1):R38.,2222 Dennis DR, Boling B, Tribble TA, Rajagopalan N, Hoopes CW. Safety of nurse driven ambulation for patients on venovenous extracorporeal membrane oxygenation. J Heart Lung Transplant. 2014;33(4 Suppl):S301.

23 Hermens JA, Braithwaite SA, Heijnen G, van Dijk D, Donker DW. Awake' extracorporeal membrane oxygenation requires adequate lower body muscle training and mobilisation as sucessful bridge to lung transplant. Intensive Care Med Exp. 2015;3(Suppl 1):A510.
-2424 Keibun R. Awake ECMO and active rehabilitation strategies for venovenous ECMO as a bridge to recovery. Crit Care Med. 2016;44(12 Suppl):321.,2929 Munshi L, Kobayashi T, DeBacker J, Doobay R, Telesnick T, Lo V, et al. Intensive care physiotherapy during extracorporeal membrane oxygenation for acute respiratory distress syndrome. Ann Am Thorac Soc. 2017;14(2):246-53.,3030 Norrenberg M, Gleize A, Preiser JC. Impact of restricted hip moviment during ECMO on later joint mobility. Intensive Care Med Exp. 2016;4(Suppl 1):A579.,3232 Pruijstein R, van Thiel R, Hool S, Saeijs M, Verbiest M, Reis Miranda D. Mobilization of patients on venovenous extracorporeal membrane oxygenation support using an ECMO helmet. Intensive Care Med. 2014;40(10):1595-7.,3333 Rahimi RA, Skrzat J, Reddy DR, Zanni JM, Fan E, Stephens RS, et al. Physical rehabilitation of patients in the intensive care unit requiring extracorporeal membrane oxygenation: a small case series. Phys Ther. 2013;93(2):248-55.) provided data on the number of deaths, which ranged from 1(3333 Rahimi RA, Skrzat J, Reddy DR, Zanni JM, Fan E, Stephens RS, et al. Physical rehabilitation of patients in the intensive care unit requiring extracorporeal membrane oxygenation: a small case series. Phys Ther. 2013;93(2):248-55.) to 16(2929 Munshi L, Kobayashi T, DeBacker J, Doobay R, Telesnick T, Lo V, et al. Intensive care physiotherapy during extracorporeal membrane oxygenation for acute respiratory distress syndrome. Ann Am Thorac Soc. 2017;14(2):246-53.) (Table 3). Munshi et al.(2929 Munshi L, Kobayashi T, DeBacker J, Doobay R, Telesnick T, Lo V, et al. Intensive care physiotherapy during extracorporeal membrane oxygenation for acute respiratory distress syndrome. Ann Am Thorac Soc. 2017;14(2):246-53.) showed that there was a significant decrease in mortality in patients who underwent PT (IG) compared to those who did not (control group, CG) (odds ratio, 0.19; 95% confidence interval, 0.04 - 0.98), including one death in the IG and seven deaths in the CG. Three other studies(2424 Keibun R. Awake ECMO and active rehabilitation strategies for venovenous ECMO as a bridge to recovery. Crit Care Med. 2016;44(12 Suppl):321.,3333 Rahimi RA, Skrzat J, Reddy DR, Zanni JM, Fan E, Stephens RS, et al. Physical rehabilitation of patients in the intensive care unit requiring extracorporeal membrane oxygenation: a small case series. Phys Ther. 2013;93(2):248-55.,3434 Rehder KJ, Turner DA, Hartwig MG, Williford WL, Bonadonna D, Walczak RJ Jr, et al. Active rehabilitation during extracorporeal membrane oxygenation as a bridge to lung transplantation. Respir Care. 2013;58(8):1291-8.) involving patients who did not undergo PT did not present statistical analyses of mortality. The remaining studies(2727 Kulkarni T, Teerapuncharoen K, Trevor J, Wille K, Diaz-Guzman E. Ambulatory low blood flow extracorporeal membrane oxygenation in a patient with refractory status asthmaticus. Am J Respir Crit Care Med. 2015;191:A4564.,3131 Pastva A, Kirk T, Parry SM. Functional electrical stimulation cycling pre-and post-bilateral orthotopic lung transplantation: A case report. Am J Respir Crit Care Med. 2015;191:A1643.,3434 Rehder KJ, Turner DA, Hartwig MG, Williford WL, Bonadonna D, Walczak RJ Jr, et al. Active rehabilitation during extracorporeal membrane oxygenation as a bridge to lung transplantation. Respir Care. 2013;58(8):1291-8.

35 Salam S, Kotloff R, Garcha P, Krishnan S, Joshi D, Grady P, et al. Lung transplantation after 125 days on ECMO for severe refractory hypoxemia with no prior lung disease. ASAIO J. 2017;63(5):e66-8.
-3636 Turner DA, Cheifetz IM, Rehder KJ, Williford WL, Bonadonna D, Banuelos SJ, et al. Active rehabilitation and physical therapy during extracorporeal membrane oxygenation while awaiting lung transplantation: a practical approach. Crit Care Med. 2011;39(12):2593-8.) reported that the evaluated patients survived after ECMO decannulation.

Length of mechanical ventilation

The length of MV before the indication of ECMO was reported in six studies(1919 Bain JC, Turner DA, Rehder KJ, Eisenstein EL, Davis RD, Cheifetz IM, et al. Economic outcomes of extracorporeal membrane oxygenation with and without ambulation as a bridge to lung transplantation. Respir Care. 2016;61(1):1-7.,2727 Kulkarni T, Teerapuncharoen K, Trevor J, Wille K, Diaz-Guzman E. Ambulatory low blood flow extracorporeal membrane oxygenation in a patient with refractory status asthmaticus. Am J Respir Crit Care Med. 2015;191:A4564.,2929 Munshi L, Kobayashi T, DeBacker J, Doobay R, Telesnick T, Lo V, et al. Intensive care physiotherapy during extracorporeal membrane oxygenation for acute respiratory distress syndrome. Ann Am Thorac Soc. 2017;14(2):246-53.,3434 Rehder KJ, Turner DA, Hartwig MG, Williford WL, Bonadonna D, Walczak RJ Jr, et al. Active rehabilitation during extracorporeal membrane oxygenation as a bridge to lung transplantation. Respir Care. 2013;58(8):1291-8.

35 Salam S, Kotloff R, Garcha P, Krishnan S, Joshi D, Grady P, et al. Lung transplantation after 125 days on ECMO for severe refractory hypoxemia with no prior lung disease. ASAIO J. 2017;63(5):e66-8.
-3636 Turner DA, Cheifetz IM, Rehder KJ, Williford WL, Bonadonna D, Banuelos SJ, et al. Active rehabilitation and physical therapy during extracorporeal membrane oxygenation while awaiting lung transplantation: a practical approach. Crit Care Med. 2011;39(12):2593-8.) and ranged from 0.77 to 151 days (Table 2). Most controlled cohort studies(1919 Bain JC, Turner DA, Rehder KJ, Eisenstein EL, Davis RD, Cheifetz IM, et al. Economic outcomes of extracorporeal membrane oxygenation with and without ambulation as a bridge to lung transplantation. Respir Care. 2016;61(1):1-7.,2929 Munshi L, Kobayashi T, DeBacker J, Doobay R, Telesnick T, Lo V, et al. Intensive care physiotherapy during extracorporeal membrane oxygenation for acute respiratory distress syndrome. Ann Am Thorac Soc. 2017;14(2):246-53.,3434 Rehder KJ, Turner DA, Hartwig MG, Williford WL, Bonadonna D, Walczak RJ Jr, et al. Active rehabilitation during extracorporeal membrane oxygenation as a bridge to lung transplantation. Respir Care. 2013;58(8):1291-8.) reported significant differences between the group receiving PT (IG) and the group not receiving PT (CG), and the length of MV in the IG was greater than that in the CG. Rehder et al.(3434 Rehder KJ, Turner DA, Hartwig MG, Williford WL, Bonadonna D, Walczak RJ Jr, et al. Active rehabilitation during extracorporeal membrane oxygenation as a bridge to lung transplantation. Respir Care. 2013;58(8):1291-8.) reported that the mean MV times in the IG and CG were 1.75 and 0.77 days, respectively. Munshi et al.(2929 Munshi L, Kobayashi T, DeBacker J, Doobay R, Telesnick T, Lo V, et al. Intensive care physiotherapy during extracorporeal membrane oxygenation for acute respiratory distress syndrome. Ann Am Thorac Soc. 2017;14(2):246-53.) reported significant differences in the length of MV between the IG and CG (median [interquartile range] of 3 [0.87 - 7.00] and 1.16 [0.33 - 4.00] days, respectively). Bain et al.(1919 Bain JC, Turner DA, Rehder KJ, Eisenstein EL, Davis RD, Cheifetz IM, et al. Economic outcomes of extracorporeal membrane oxygenation with and without ambulation as a bridge to lung transplantation. Respir Care. 2016;61(1):1-7.) found that the length of MV was 12 (5 - 15) days in the IG and 1 (1 - 5) day in the CG. One study(2323 Hermens JA, Braithwaite SA, Heijnen G, van Dijk D, Donker DW. Awake' extracorporeal membrane oxygenation requires adequate lower body muscle training and mobilisation as sucessful bridge to lung transplant. Intensive Care Med Exp. 2015;3(Suppl 1):A510.) reported that none of the evaluated patients were on MV when ECMO started, and the remaining 13 studies(1111 Abrams D, Javidfar J, Farrand E, Mongero LB, Agerstrand CL, Ryan P, et al. Early mobilization of patients receiving extracorporeal membrane oxygenation: a retrospective cohort study. Crit Care. 2014;18(1):R38.,2020 Carswell A, Roberts A, Rosenberg A, Zych B, Garcia D, Simon A, et al. Mobilisation of patients with veno-venous extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (VV ECMO): A case series. Eur J Heart Fail. 2017;19(Suppl 2):26-7.

21 Cork G, Barrett N, Ntoumenopoulos G. Justification for chest physiotherapy during ultra-protective lung ventilation and extra-corporeal membrane oxygenation: a case study. Physiother Res Int. 2014;19(2):126-8.
-2222 Dennis DR, Boling B, Tribble TA, Rajagopalan N, Hoopes CW. Safety of nurse driven ambulation for patients on venovenous extracorporeal membrane oxygenation. J Heart Lung Transplant. 2014;33(4 Suppl):S301.,2424 Keibun R. Awake ECMO and active rehabilitation strategies for venovenous ECMO as a bridge to recovery. Crit Care Med. 2016;44(12 Suppl):321.

25 Kikukawa T, Ogura T, Harasawa T, Suzuki H, Nakano M. H1N1 influenza-associated pneumonia with severe obesity: successful management with awake veno-venous extracorporeal membrane oxygenation and early respiratory physical therapy. Acute Med Surg. 2015;3(2):186-9.
-2626 Ko Y, Cho YH, Park YH, Lee H, Suh GY, Yang JH, et al. Feasibility and safety of early physical therapy and active mobilization for patients on extracorporeal membrane oxygenation. ASAIO J. 2015;61(5):564-8.,2828 Morris K, Barrett N, Curtis A. Exercise on ECMO: an evolving science. J Intensive Care Soc. 2014;15(1 Suppl):S60-1.,3030 Norrenberg M, Gleize A, Preiser JC. Impact of restricted hip moviment during ECMO on later joint mobility. Intensive Care Med Exp. 2016;4(Suppl 1):A579.

31 Pastva A, Kirk T, Parry SM. Functional electrical stimulation cycling pre-and post-bilateral orthotopic lung transplantation: A case report. Am J Respir Crit Care Med. 2015;191:A1643.

32 Pruijstein R, van Thiel R, Hool S, Saeijs M, Verbiest M, Reis Miranda D. Mobilization of patients on venovenous extracorporeal membrane oxygenation support using an ECMO helmet. Intensive Care Med. 2014;40(10):1595-7.
-3333 Rahimi RA, Skrzat J, Reddy DR, Zanni JM, Fan E, Stephens RS, et al. Physical rehabilitation of patients in the intensive care unit requiring extracorporeal membrane oxygenation: a small case series. Phys Ther. 2013;93(2):248-55.,3737 Wells CL, Forreseter J, Vogel J, Rector R, Herr D. The feasibility and safety in providing early rehabilitation and ambulation for adults on percutaneous venous to arterial extracorporeal membrane oxygenation support. Am J Respir Crit Care Med. 2017;195:A2710.) did not report the length of MV.

One study indicated that the time of MV after lung transplantation (LT) was shorter in patients who underwent PT + ECMO before LT than in the CG (2 [1 - 5] days and 29 [22 - 54] days, respectively).(1919 Bain JC, Turner DA, Rehder KJ, Eisenstein EL, Davis RD, Cheifetz IM, et al. Economic outcomes of extracorporeal membrane oxygenation with and without ambulation as a bridge to lung transplantation. Respir Care. 2016;61(1):1-7.)

Length of hospital stay

The length of hospital or ICU stay was described in ten studies(1111 Abrams D, Javidfar J, Farrand E, Mongero LB, Agerstrand CL, Ryan P, et al. Early mobilization of patients receiving extracorporeal membrane oxygenation: a retrospective cohort study. Crit Care. 2014;18(1):R38.,1919 Bain JC, Turner DA, Rehder KJ, Eisenstein EL, Davis RD, Cheifetz IM, et al. Economic outcomes of extracorporeal membrane oxygenation with and without ambulation as a bridge to lung transplantation. Respir Care. 2016;61(1):1-7.,2121 Cork G, Barrett N, Ntoumenopoulos G. Justification for chest physiotherapy during ultra-protective lung ventilation and extra-corporeal membrane oxygenation: a case study. Physiother Res Int. 2014;19(2):126-8.,2424 Keibun R. Awake ECMO and active rehabilitation strategies for venovenous ECMO as a bridge to recovery. Crit Care Med. 2016;44(12 Suppl):321.,2525 Kikukawa T, Ogura T, Harasawa T, Suzuki H, Nakano M. H1N1 influenza-associated pneumonia with severe obesity: successful management with awake veno-venous extracorporeal membrane oxygenation and early respiratory physical therapy. Acute Med Surg. 2015;3(2):186-9.,2727 Kulkarni T, Teerapuncharoen K, Trevor J, Wille K, Diaz-Guzman E. Ambulatory low blood flow extracorporeal membrane oxygenation in a patient with refractory status asthmaticus. Am J Respir Crit Care Med. 2015;191:A4564.,3131 Pastva A, Kirk T, Parry SM. Functional electrical stimulation cycling pre-and post-bilateral orthotopic lung transplantation: A case report. Am J Respir Crit Care Med. 2015;191:A1643.,3434 Rehder KJ, Turner DA, Hartwig MG, Williford WL, Bonadonna D, Walczak RJ Jr, et al. Active rehabilitation during extracorporeal membrane oxygenation as a bridge to lung transplantation. Respir Care. 2013;58(8):1291-8.

35 Salam S, Kotloff R, Garcha P, Krishnan S, Joshi D, Grady P, et al. Lung transplantation after 125 days on ECMO for severe refractory hypoxemia with no prior lung disease. ASAIO J. 2017;63(5):e66-8.
-3636 Turner DA, Cheifetz IM, Rehder KJ, Williford WL, Bonadonna D, Banuelos SJ, et al. Active rehabilitation and physical therapy during extracorporeal membrane oxygenation while awaiting lung transplantation: a practical approach. Crit Care Med. 2011;39(12):2593-8.) (Table 2). Three controlled studies presented the data separated by groups,(1919 Bain JC, Turner DA, Rehder KJ, Eisenstein EL, Davis RD, Cheifetz IM, et al. Economic outcomes of extracorporeal membrane oxygenation with and without ambulation as a bridge to lung transplantation. Respir Care. 2016;61(1):1-7.,2424 Keibun R. Awake ECMO and active rehabilitation strategies for venovenous ECMO as a bridge to recovery. Crit Care Med. 2016;44(12 Suppl):321.,3434 Rehder KJ, Turner DA, Hartwig MG, Williford WL, Bonadonna D, Walczak RJ Jr, et al. Active rehabilitation during extracorporeal membrane oxygenation as a bridge to lung transplantation. Respir Care. 2013;58(8):1291-8.) and all of the studies reported that the total hospitalization time or length of ICU stay was shorter in the IG. Bain et al.(1919 Bain JC, Turner DA, Rehder KJ, Eisenstein EL, Davis RD, Cheifetz IM, et al. Economic outcomes of extracorporeal membrane oxygenation with and without ambulation as a bridge to lung transplantation. Respir Care. 2016;61(1):1-7.) indicated that the length of hospital stay in the IG was shorter than that in the CG (50 [31 - 63] and 94 [51 - 151] days, respectively). In addition, the length of ICU stay after LT was shorter in the IG than in the CG (8 [6 - 22] and 45 [34 - 56] days, respectively).(1919 Bain JC, Turner DA, Rehder KJ, Eisenstein EL, Davis RD, Cheifetz IM, et al. Economic outcomes of extracorporeal membrane oxygenation with and without ambulation as a bridge to lung transplantation. Respir Care. 2016;61(1):1-7.)

Two studies(2424 Keibun R. Awake ECMO and active rehabilitation strategies for venovenous ECMO as a bridge to recovery. Crit Care Med. 2016;44(12 Suppl):321.,3434 Rehder KJ, Turner DA, Hartwig MG, Williford WL, Bonadonna D, Walczak RJ Jr, et al. Active rehabilitation during extracorporeal membrane oxygenation as a bridge to lung transplantation. Respir Care. 2013;58(8):1291-8.) found that PT reduced the length of hospital stay (Table 3). Rehder et al.(3434 Rehder KJ, Turner DA, Hartwig MG, Williford WL, Bonadonna D, Walczak RJ Jr, et al. Active rehabilitation during extracorporeal membrane oxygenation as a bridge to lung transplantation. Respir Care. 2013;58(8):1291-8.) reported that the mean total hospital stay was 26 days in the IG (n = 4) and 80 days in the CG (n = 3), whereas the mean length of ICU stay was 11 days in the IG and 45 days in the CG. Keibun(2424 Keibun R. Awake ECMO and active rehabilitation strategies for venovenous ECMO as a bridge to recovery. Crit Care Med. 2016;44(12 Suppl):321.) observed that the mean total hospitalization time was 22 days in the IG (n = 10) and 60 days in the CG (n = 13), and the mean ICU stay was 14 days in the IG and 42 days in the CG. Abrams et al.(1111 Abrams D, Javidfar J, Farrand E, Mongero LB, Agerstrand CL, Ryan P, et al. Early mobilization of patients receiving extracorporeal membrane oxygenation: a retrospective cohort study. Crit Care. 2014;18(1):R38.) reported that the lengths of hospital stay in the IG (n = 35) after LT and after ECMO decannulation (mean ± standard deviation) were 34 ± 11 days and 18 ± 17 days, respectively. Nonetheless, these data were not compared with those of the CG. Kikukawa et al.(2525 Kikukawa T, Ogura T, Harasawa T, Suzuki H, Nakano M. H1N1 influenza-associated pneumonia with severe obesity: successful management with awake veno-venous extracorporeal membrane oxygenation and early respiratory physical therapy. Acute Med Surg. 2015;3(2):186-9.) indicated that the evaluated patient stayed 14 days in the ICU and 60 days in the hospital.

Other effects of physical therapy

In addition to the aforementioned outcomes, ten studies(1111 Abrams D, Javidfar J, Farrand E, Mongero LB, Agerstrand CL, Ryan P, et al. Early mobilization of patients receiving extracorporeal membrane oxygenation: a retrospective cohort study. Crit Care. 2014;18(1):R38.,2121 Cork G, Barrett N, Ntoumenopoulos G. Justification for chest physiotherapy during ultra-protective lung ventilation and extra-corporeal membrane oxygenation: a case study. Physiother Res Int. 2014;19(2):126-8.

22 Dennis DR, Boling B, Tribble TA, Rajagopalan N, Hoopes CW. Safety of nurse driven ambulation for patients on venovenous extracorporeal membrane oxygenation. J Heart Lung Transplant. 2014;33(4 Suppl):S301.

23 Hermens JA, Braithwaite SA, Heijnen G, van Dijk D, Donker DW. Awake' extracorporeal membrane oxygenation requires adequate lower body muscle training and mobilisation as sucessful bridge to lung transplant. Intensive Care Med Exp. 2015;3(Suppl 1):A510.

24 Keibun R. Awake ECMO and active rehabilitation strategies for venovenous ECMO as a bridge to recovery. Crit Care Med. 2016;44(12 Suppl):321.

25 Kikukawa T, Ogura T, Harasawa T, Suzuki H, Nakano M. H1N1 influenza-associated pneumonia with severe obesity: successful management with awake veno-venous extracorporeal membrane oxygenation and early respiratory physical therapy. Acute Med Surg. 2015;3(2):186-9.
-2626 Ko Y, Cho YH, Park YH, Lee H, Suh GY, Yang JH, et al. Feasibility and safety of early physical therapy and active mobilization for patients on extracorporeal membrane oxygenation. ASAIO J. 2015;61(5):564-8.,3131 Pastva A, Kirk T, Parry SM. Functional electrical stimulation cycling pre-and post-bilateral orthotopic lung transplantation: A case report. Am J Respir Crit Care Med. 2015;191:A1643.,3434 Rehder KJ, Turner DA, Hartwig MG, Williford WL, Bonadonna D, Walczak RJ Jr, et al. Active rehabilitation during extracorporeal membrane oxygenation as a bridge to lung transplantation. Respir Care. 2013;58(8):1291-8.,3535 Salam S, Kotloff R, Garcha P, Krishnan S, Joshi D, Grady P, et al. Lung transplantation after 125 days on ECMO for severe refractory hypoxemia with no prior lung disease. ASAIO J. 2017;63(5):e66-8.) reported other potentially beneficial effects of PT (Table 3), including secretion clearance; pulmonary recovery;(2121 Cork G, Barrett N, Ntoumenopoulos G. Justification for chest physiotherapy during ultra-protective lung ventilation and extra-corporeal membrane oxygenation: a case study. Physiother Res Int. 2014;19(2):126-8.) improvement in respiratory function,(2525 Kikukawa T, Ogura T, Harasawa T, Suzuki H, Nakano M. H1N1 influenza-associated pneumonia with severe obesity: successful management with awake veno-venous extracorporeal membrane oxygenation and early respiratory physical therapy. Acute Med Surg. 2015;3(2):186-9.) functional capacity(1111 Abrams D, Javidfar J, Farrand E, Mongero LB, Agerstrand CL, Ryan P, et al. Early mobilization of patients receiving extracorporeal membrane oxygenation: a retrospective cohort study. Crit Care. 2014;18(1):R38.,2626 Ko Y, Cho YH, Park YH, Lee H, Suh GY, Yang JH, et al. Feasibility and safety of early physical therapy and active mobilization for patients on extracorporeal membrane oxygenation. ASAIO J. 2015;61(5):564-8.,3535 Salam S, Kotloff R, Garcha P, Krishnan S, Joshi D, Grady P, et al. Lung transplantation after 125 days on ECMO for severe refractory hypoxemia with no prior lung disease. ASAIO J. 2017;63(5):e66-8.) functionality,(2424 Keibun R. Awake ECMO and active rehabilitation strategies for venovenous ECMO as a bridge to recovery. Crit Care Med. 2016;44(12 Suppl):321.) and muscle strength;(2323 Hermens JA, Braithwaite SA, Heijnen G, van Dijk D, Donker DW. Awake' extracorporeal membrane oxygenation requires adequate lower body muscle training and mobilisation as sucessful bridge to lung transplant. Intensive Care Med Exp. 2015;3(Suppl 1):A510.,3131 Pastva A, Kirk T, Parry SM. Functional electrical stimulation cycling pre-and post-bilateral orthotopic lung transplantation: A case report. Am J Respir Crit Care Med. 2015;191:A1643.) maintenance of muscle mass; and decreases in the incidence of myopathy(3434 Rehder KJ, Turner DA, Hartwig MG, Williford WL, Bonadonna D, Walczak RJ Jr, et al. Active rehabilitation during extracorporeal membrane oxygenation as a bridge to lung transplantation. Respir Care. 2013;58(8):1291-8.) and immobility-associated complications.(2222 Dennis DR, Boling B, Tribble TA, Rajagopalan N, Hoopes CW. Safety of nurse driven ambulation for patients on venovenous extracorporeal membrane oxygenation. J Heart Lung Transplant. 2014;33(4 Suppl):S301.)

Assessment of the methodological quality

Ten cohort studies were scored using the Newcastle-Ottawa scale.(1717 Wells GA, Shea B, O'Connell D, Peterson J, Welch V, Losos M, et al. The Newcastle-Ottawa Scale (NOS) for assessing the quality of nonrandomised studies in meta-analyses. Available from: http://www.ohri.ca/programs/clinical_epidemiology/oxford.asp. Accessed in October, 2017.
http://www.ohri.ca/programs/clinical_epi...
) The four controlled cohort studies(1919 Bain JC, Turner DA, Rehder KJ, Eisenstein EL, Davis RD, Cheifetz IM, et al. Economic outcomes of extracorporeal membrane oxygenation with and without ambulation as a bridge to lung transplantation. Respir Care. 2016;61(1):1-7.,2424 Keibun R. Awake ECMO and active rehabilitation strategies for venovenous ECMO as a bridge to recovery. Crit Care Med. 2016;44(12 Suppl):321.,2929 Munshi L, Kobayashi T, DeBacker J, Doobay R, Telesnick T, Lo V, et al. Intensive care physiotherapy during extracorporeal membrane oxygenation for acute respiratory distress syndrome. Ann Am Thorac Soc. 2017;14(2):246-53.,3838 Hartling L, Featherstone R, Nuspl M, Shave K, Dryden DM, Vandermeer B. Grey literature in systematic reviews: a cross-sectional study of the contribution of non-English reports, unpublished studies and dissertations to the results of meta-analyses in child-relevant reviews. BMC Med Res Methodol. 2017;17(1):64.) included in this review received three stars. The remaining five studies(1111 Abrams D, Javidfar J, Farrand E, Mongero LB, Agerstrand CL, Ryan P, et al. Early mobilization of patients receiving extracorporeal membrane oxygenation: a retrospective cohort study. Crit Care. 2014;18(1):R38.,2222 Dennis DR, Boling B, Tribble TA, Rajagopalan N, Hoopes CW. Safety of nurse driven ambulation for patients on venovenous extracorporeal membrane oxygenation. J Heart Lung Transplant. 2014;33(4 Suppl):S301.,2323 Hermens JA, Braithwaite SA, Heijnen G, van Dijk D, Donker DW. Awake' extracorporeal membrane oxygenation requires adequate lower body muscle training and mobilisation as sucessful bridge to lung transplant. Intensive Care Med Exp. 2015;3(Suppl 1):A510.,2626 Ko Y, Cho YH, Park YH, Lee H, Suh GY, Yang JH, et al. Feasibility and safety of early physical therapy and active mobilization for patients on extracorporeal membrane oxygenation. ASAIO J. 2015;61(5):564-8.,3737 Wells CL, Forreseter J, Vogel J, Rector R, Herr D. The feasibility and safety in providing early rehabilitation and ambulation for adults on percutaneous venous to arterial extracorporeal membrane oxygenation support. Am J Respir Crit Care Med. 2017;195:A2710.) received only two stars. The only parameter not scored in the analyzed studies was the representativeness of the exposed cohort. One study(2929 Munshi L, Kobayashi T, DeBacker J, Doobay R, Telesnick T, Lo V, et al. Intensive care physiotherapy during extracorporeal membrane oxygenation for acute respiratory distress syndrome. Ann Am Thorac Soc. 2017;14(2):246-53.) was scored one star for comparability between groups, and it controlled for age when analyzing the cohorts but not for other contributing factors. All of the studies received three stars for the analysis of outcomes, and most of these studies had a retrospective cohort design and reported the occurrence of outcomes in electronic records with no or minimal loss of follow-up of the participants. A detailed evaluation of the risk of bias of the cohort studies is presented in table 1S (Supplementary material).

The methodological quality of the case studies and case series was assessed using an 18-question scale for the case series.(1818 Moga C, Guo B, Schopflocher D, Harstall C. Development of a quality appraisal tool for case series studies using a modified Delphi technique. 2012. Available from http://cobe.paginas.ufsc.br/files/2014/10/MOGA.Case-series.pdf. Acessed in October, 2017.
http://cobe.paginas.ufsc.br/files/2014/1...
) Four studies(3232 Pruijstein R, van Thiel R, Hool S, Saeijs M, Verbiest M, Reis Miranda D. Mobilization of patients on venovenous extracorporeal membrane oxygenation support using an ECMO helmet. Intensive Care Med. 2014;40(10):1595-7.,3333 Rahimi RA, Skrzat J, Reddy DR, Zanni JM, Fan E, Stephens RS, et al. Physical rehabilitation of patients in the intensive care unit requiring extracorporeal membrane oxygenation: a small case series. Phys Ther. 2013;93(2):248-55.,3535 Salam S, Kotloff R, Garcha P, Krishnan S, Joshi D, Grady P, et al. Lung transplantation after 125 days on ECMO for severe refractory hypoxemia with no prior lung disease. ASAIO J. 2017;63(5):e66-8.,3636 Turner DA, Cheifetz IM, Rehder KJ, Williford WL, Bonadonna D, Banuelos SJ, et al. Active rehabilitation and physical therapy during extracorporeal membrane oxygenation while awaiting lung transplantation: a practical approach. Crit Care Med. 2011;39(12):2593-8.) presented good quality in 50% or more of the criteria, whereas one study(2020 Carswell A, Roberts A, Rosenberg A, Zych B, Garcia D, Simon A, et al. Mobilisation of patients with veno-venous extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (VV ECMO): A case series. Eur J Heart Fail. 2017;19(Suppl 2):26-7.) had low quality in 33% of the criteria. The remaining studies presented low quality in 15% to 25% of the criteria. Ten studies did not present sufficient information to allow for assessing the quality of 20 - 45% of the criteria. One study presented less than 20% uncertainty in the presented information.(3333 Rahimi RA, Skrzat J, Reddy DR, Zanni JM, Fan E, Stephens RS, et al. Physical rehabilitation of patients in the intensive care unit requiring extracorporeal membrane oxygenation: a small case series. Phys Ther. 2013;93(2):248-55.) However, it is worth noting that a scale constructed for case series was used, and after adapting the scale to case studies,(2121 Cork G, Barrett N, Ntoumenopoulos G. Justification for chest physiotherapy during ultra-protective lung ventilation and extra-corporeal membrane oxygenation: a case study. Physiother Res Int. 2014;19(2):126-8.,2525 Kikukawa T, Ogura T, Harasawa T, Suzuki H, Nakano M. H1N1 influenza-associated pneumonia with severe obesity: successful management with awake veno-venous extracorporeal membrane oxygenation and early respiratory physical therapy. Acute Med Surg. 2015;3(2):186-9.,2727 Kulkarni T, Teerapuncharoen K, Trevor J, Wille K, Diaz-Guzman E. Ambulatory low blood flow extracorporeal membrane oxygenation in a patient with refractory status asthmaticus. Am J Respir Crit Care Med. 2015;191:A4564.,2828 Morris K, Barrett N, Curtis A. Exercise on ECMO: an evolving science. J Intensive Care Soc. 2014;15(1 Suppl):S60-1.,3131 Pastva A, Kirk T, Parry SM. Functional electrical stimulation cycling pre-and post-bilateral orthotopic lung transplantation: A case report. Am J Respir Crit Care Med. 2015;191:A1643.,3535 Salam S, Kotloff R, Garcha P, Krishnan S, Joshi D, Grady P, et al. Lung transplantation after 125 days on ECMO for severe refractory hypoxemia with no prior lung disease. ASAIO J. 2017;63(5):e66-8.) four criteria were not adequate for the type of study and were not scored. The analysis of the risk of bias of the case studies and case series according to each criterion is shown in table S2 (Supplementary material).

DISCUSSION

The results of the studies listed in this systematic review demonstrate that multimodal PT approaches routinely used in the rehabilitation of adult patients on ECMO support are considered safe because of the absence of severe events and the small number of mild adverse events. Some studies have shown that these interventions might reduce the length of ICU stays and decrease the rate of fatal outcomes, although the probability of reducing mortality has not been confirmed. Furthermore, preventing the deleterious effects of prolonged bed rest has many benefits, including the maintenance and/or gain of muscle strength, together with improved functional capacity relative to individuals who did not undergo PT and decreases in the incidence of myopathy and length of MV after LT. However, the number of these outcomes was not sufficiently large to provide an adequate level of evidence.

With the increasing use of ECMO in patients with potentially reversible acute diseases or as a support strategy (bridge) until the time of lung or cardiopulmonary transplantation, there is a growing need to determine the risk-benefit ratio of PT (early mobilization) in these individuals. The use of ECMO allows for less sedation and anticipates MV weaning in the majority of cases in which clinical stability is reached. Sedatives, even if intermittent, promote delayed ambulation and unnecessary immobilization, leading to physical dysfunction.(3939 Thomsen GE, Snow GL, Rodriguez L, Hopkins RO. Patients with respiratory failure increase ambulation after transfer to an intensive care unit where early activity is a priority. Crit Care Med. 2008;36(4):1119-24.) In turn, early ambulation improves the functional capacity of ICU patients.(4040 Silva VS, Pinto JG, Martinez BP, Camelier FW. Mobilização na unidade de terapia intensiva: revisão sistemática. Fisioter Pesqui. 2014;21(4):398-404.)

The literature has indicated that the ambulation of critical patients on MV associated with multimodal PT approaches is safe, improves functional status, and prevents the development of neuromuscular complications.(4141 Bailey P, Thomsen GE, Spuhler VJ, Blair R, Jewkes J, Bezdijian L, et al. Early activity is feasible and safe in respiratory failure patients. Crit Care Med. 2007;35(1):139-45.) The results of this review demonstrate that PT + ECMO is feasible and safe. Ambulation was possible even in patients with cannulation of lower limb vessels. However, the integration of a multiprofessional team seems to be essential for ensuring the safety and proper monitoring of ventilatory and hemodynamic parameters and for avoiding unnecessary complications and cannula displacement or fracture.(3535 Salam S, Kotloff R, Garcha P, Krishnan S, Joshi D, Grady P, et al. Lung transplantation after 125 days on ECMO for severe refractory hypoxemia with no prior lung disease. ASAIO J. 2017;63(5):e66-8.)

Some studies have reported that double lumen cannulas (which reduce problems in the lower limbs) facilitated sitting, standing, bedside exercises, and ambulation,(1111 Abrams D, Javidfar J, Farrand E, Mongero LB, Agerstrand CL, Ryan P, et al. Early mobilization of patients receiving extracorporeal membrane oxygenation: a retrospective cohort study. Crit Care. 2014;18(1):R38.,2222 Dennis DR, Boling B, Tribble TA, Rajagopalan N, Hoopes CW. Safety of nurse driven ambulation for patients on venovenous extracorporeal membrane oxygenation. J Heart Lung Transplant. 2014;33(4 Suppl):S301.,2727 Kulkarni T, Teerapuncharoen K, Trevor J, Wille K, Diaz-Guzman E. Ambulatory low blood flow extracorporeal membrane oxygenation in a patient with refractory status asthmaticus. Am J Respir Crit Care Med. 2015;191:A4564.

28 Morris K, Barrett N, Curtis A. Exercise on ECMO: an evolving science. J Intensive Care Soc. 2014;15(1 Suppl):S60-1.
-2929 Munshi L, Kobayashi T, DeBacker J, Doobay R, Telesnick T, Lo V, et al. Intensive care physiotherapy during extracorporeal membrane oxygenation for acute respiratory distress syndrome. Ann Am Thorac Soc. 2017;14(2):246-53.,3131 Pastva A, Kirk T, Parry SM. Functional electrical stimulation cycling pre-and post-bilateral orthotopic lung transplantation: A case report. Am J Respir Crit Care Med. 2015;191:A1643.

32 Pruijstein R, van Thiel R, Hool S, Saeijs M, Verbiest M, Reis Miranda D. Mobilization of patients on venovenous extracorporeal membrane oxygenation support using an ECMO helmet. Intensive Care Med. 2014;40(10):1595-7.

33 Rahimi RA, Skrzat J, Reddy DR, Zanni JM, Fan E, Stephens RS, et al. Physical rehabilitation of patients in the intensive care unit requiring extracorporeal membrane oxygenation: a small case series. Phys Ther. 2013;93(2):248-55.

34 Rehder KJ, Turner DA, Hartwig MG, Williford WL, Bonadonna D, Walczak RJ Jr, et al. Active rehabilitation during extracorporeal membrane oxygenation as a bridge to lung transplantation. Respir Care. 2013;58(8):1291-8.

35 Salam S, Kotloff R, Garcha P, Krishnan S, Joshi D, Grady P, et al. Lung transplantation after 125 days on ECMO for severe refractory hypoxemia with no prior lung disease. ASAIO J. 2017;63(5):e66-8.
-3636 Turner DA, Cheifetz IM, Rehder KJ, Williford WL, Bonadonna D, Banuelos SJ, et al. Active rehabilitation and physical therapy during extracorporeal membrane oxygenation while awaiting lung transplantation: a practical approach. Crit Care Med. 2011;39(12):2593-8.) although femoral cannulation was not considered a contraindication for early mobilization.(1111 Abrams D, Javidfar J, Farrand E, Mongero LB, Agerstrand CL, Ryan P, et al. Early mobilization of patients receiving extracorporeal membrane oxygenation: a retrospective cohort study. Crit Care. 2014;18(1):R38.,2020 Carswell A, Roberts A, Rosenberg A, Zych B, Garcia D, Simon A, et al. Mobilisation of patients with veno-venous extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (VV ECMO): A case series. Eur J Heart Fail. 2017;19(Suppl 2):26-7.,2323 Hermens JA, Braithwaite SA, Heijnen G, van Dijk D, Donker DW. Awake' extracorporeal membrane oxygenation requires adequate lower body muscle training and mobilisation as sucessful bridge to lung transplant. Intensive Care Med Exp. 2015;3(Suppl 1):A510.,2525 Kikukawa T, Ogura T, Harasawa T, Suzuki H, Nakano M. H1N1 influenza-associated pneumonia with severe obesity: successful management with awake veno-venous extracorporeal membrane oxygenation and early respiratory physical therapy. Acute Med Surg. 2015;3(2):186-9.

26 Ko Y, Cho YH, Park YH, Lee H, Suh GY, Yang JH, et al. Feasibility and safety of early physical therapy and active mobilization for patients on extracorporeal membrane oxygenation. ASAIO J. 2015;61(5):564-8.

27 Kulkarni T, Teerapuncharoen K, Trevor J, Wille K, Diaz-Guzman E. Ambulatory low blood flow extracorporeal membrane oxygenation in a patient with refractory status asthmaticus. Am J Respir Crit Care Med. 2015;191:A4564.

28 Morris K, Barrett N, Curtis A. Exercise on ECMO: an evolving science. J Intensive Care Soc. 2014;15(1 Suppl):S60-1.

29 Munshi L, Kobayashi T, DeBacker J, Doobay R, Telesnick T, Lo V, et al. Intensive care physiotherapy during extracorporeal membrane oxygenation for acute respiratory distress syndrome. Ann Am Thorac Soc. 2017;14(2):246-53.
-3030 Norrenberg M, Gleize A, Preiser JC. Impact of restricted hip moviment during ECMO on later joint mobility. Intensive Care Med Exp. 2016;4(Suppl 1):A579.,3333 Rahimi RA, Skrzat J, Reddy DR, Zanni JM, Fan E, Stephens RS, et al. Physical rehabilitation of patients in the intensive care unit requiring extracorporeal membrane oxygenation: a small case series. Phys Ther. 2013;93(2):248-55.,3434 Rehder KJ, Turner DA, Hartwig MG, Williford WL, Bonadonna D, Walczak RJ Jr, et al. Active rehabilitation during extracorporeal membrane oxygenation as a bridge to lung transplantation. Respir Care. 2013;58(8):1291-8.,3737 Wells CL, Forreseter J, Vogel J, Rector R, Herr D. The feasibility and safety in providing early rehabilitation and ambulation for adults on percutaneous venous to arterial extracorporeal membrane oxygenation support. Am J Respir Crit Care Med. 2017;195:A2710.)

Despite the limited number of controlled studies, the benefits of PT are promising, including decreases in hospital and ICU stays, healthcare costs (22%),(1919 Bain JC, Turner DA, Rehder KJ, Eisenstein EL, Davis RD, Cheifetz IM, et al. Economic outcomes of extracorporeal membrane oxygenation with and without ambulation as a bridge to lung transplantation. Respir Care. 2016;61(1):1-7.) length of MV, morbidity and mortality,(2929 Munshi L, Kobayashi T, DeBacker J, Doobay R, Telesnick T, Lo V, et al. Intensive care physiotherapy during extracorporeal membrane oxygenation for acute respiratory distress syndrome. Ann Am Thorac Soc. 2017;14(2):246-53.,3434 Rehder KJ, Turner DA, Hartwig MG, Williford WL, Bonadonna D, Walczak RJ Jr, et al. Active rehabilitation during extracorporeal membrane oxygenation as a bridge to lung transplantation. Respir Care. 2013;58(8):1291-8.) and the incidence of myopathy,(3434 Rehder KJ, Turner DA, Hartwig MG, Williford WL, Bonadonna D, Walczak RJ Jr, et al. Active rehabilitation during extracorporeal membrane oxygenation as a bridge to lung transplantation. Respir Care. 2013;58(8):1291-8.) as well as an increase in physical capacity.(2424 Keibun R. Awake ECMO and active rehabilitation strategies for venovenous ECMO as a bridge to recovery. Crit Care Med. 2016;44(12 Suppl):321.)

This systematic review is not the first on this subject. However, the study by Polastri et al.(1414 Polastri M, Loforte A, Dell'Amore A, Nava S. Physiotherapy for patients on awake extracorporeal membrane oxygenation: A systematic review. Physiother Res Int. 2016;21(4):203-9.) had some important limitations. First, the review by Polastri et al.(1414 Polastri M, Loforte A, Dell'Amore A, Nava S. Physiotherapy for patients on awake extracorporeal membrane oxygenation: A systematic review. Physiother Res Int. 2016;21(4):203-9.) included studies that used only VV ECMO and studies of pediatric patients, for whom rehabilitation programs are distinctive. Second, the search for articles was terminated in 2014, underscoring the need to update the search. Furthermore, it is of note that only observational studies were conducted despite increased interest in the subject. Nevertheless, observational studies cannot fully assess the effects of interventions because of the risk of selection bias and confounding bias, especially in retrospective studies. In contrast, real-life studies provide safety data that can be used as primary information for developing randomized, clinical trials.(4242 Lai JN, Tang JL, Wang JD. Observational studies on evaluating the safety and adverse effects of traditional Chinese medicine. Evid Based Complement Alternat Med. 2013; 2013:697893.) In nine studies, the only data source included was Congressional abstracts. Despite the limited availability of information in these abstracts, the inclusion of gray literature helps to reduce the effect of publication bias on the results of systematic reviews and reveals underestimated risks in published studies.(3838 Hartling L, Featherstone R, Nuspl M, Shave K, Dryden DM, Vandermeer B. Grey literature in systematic reviews: a cross-sectional study of the contribution of non-English reports, unpublished studies and dissertations to the results of meta-analyses in child-relevant reviews. BMC Med Res Methodol. 2017;17(1):64.)

In addition to observational studies with an inherent risk of bias in the methodology, most of the studies had low methodological quality. Cohort studies(1111 Abrams D, Javidfar J, Farrand E, Mongero LB, Agerstrand CL, Ryan P, et al. Early mobilization of patients receiving extracorporeal membrane oxygenation: a retrospective cohort study. Crit Care. 2014;18(1):R38.,1919 Bain JC, Turner DA, Rehder KJ, Eisenstein EL, Davis RD, Cheifetz IM, et al. Economic outcomes of extracorporeal membrane oxygenation with and without ambulation as a bridge to lung transplantation. Respir Care. 2016;61(1):1-7.,2222 Dennis DR, Boling B, Tribble TA, Rajagopalan N, Hoopes CW. Safety of nurse driven ambulation for patients on venovenous extracorporeal membrane oxygenation. J Heart Lung Transplant. 2014;33(4 Suppl):S301.,2323 Hermens JA, Braithwaite SA, Heijnen G, van Dijk D, Donker DW. Awake' extracorporeal membrane oxygenation requires adequate lower body muscle training and mobilisation as sucessful bridge to lung transplant. Intensive Care Med Exp. 2015;3(Suppl 1):A510.,2424 Keibun R. Awake ECMO and active rehabilitation strategies for venovenous ECMO as a bridge to recovery. Crit Care Med. 2016;44(12 Suppl):321.,2626 Ko Y, Cho YH, Park YH, Lee H, Suh GY, Yang JH, et al. Feasibility and safety of early physical therapy and active mobilization for patients on extracorporeal membrane oxygenation. ASAIO J. 2015;61(5):564-8.,2929 Munshi L, Kobayashi T, DeBacker J, Doobay R, Telesnick T, Lo V, et al. Intensive care physiotherapy during extracorporeal membrane oxygenation for acute respiratory distress syndrome. Ann Am Thorac Soc. 2017;14(2):246-53.,3434 Rehder KJ, Turner DA, Hartwig MG, Williford WL, Bonadonna D, Walczak RJ Jr, et al. Active rehabilitation during extracorporeal membrane oxygenation as a bridge to lung transplantation. Respir Care. 2013;58(8):1291-8.,3737 Wells CL, Forreseter J, Vogel J, Rector R, Herr D. The feasibility and safety in providing early rehabilitation and ambulation for adults on percutaneous venous to arterial extracorporeal membrane oxygenation support. Am J Respir Crit Care Med. 2017;195:A2710.) had limitations regarding selection and comparability because the exposed cohort was composed of a specific subgroup of patients, and only four studies had a CG.(1919 Bain JC, Turner DA, Rehder KJ, Eisenstein EL, Davis RD, Cheifetz IM, et al. Economic outcomes of extracorporeal membrane oxygenation with and without ambulation as a bridge to lung transplantation. Respir Care. 2016;61(1):1-7.,2424 Keibun R. Awake ECMO and active rehabilitation strategies for venovenous ECMO as a bridge to recovery. Crit Care Med. 2016;44(12 Suppl):321.,2929 Munshi L, Kobayashi T, DeBacker J, Doobay R, Telesnick T, Lo V, et al. Intensive care physiotherapy during extracorporeal membrane oxygenation for acute respiratory distress syndrome. Ann Am Thorac Soc. 2017;14(2):246-53.,3434 Rehder KJ, Turner DA, Hartwig MG, Williford WL, Bonadonna D, Walczak RJ Jr, et al. Active rehabilitation during extracorporeal membrane oxygenation as a bridge to lung transplantation. Respir Care. 2013;58(8):1291-8.) Nevertheless, the reliability of outcomes was considered high since most of the studies were retrospective, with data extraction from medical records and little loss of follow-up.

The case studies and case series also presented limitations in methodological quality, and only four studies presented good quality in 50% or more of the study criteria.(3232 Pruijstein R, van Thiel R, Hool S, Saeijs M, Verbiest M, Reis Miranda D. Mobilization of patients on venovenous extracorporeal membrane oxygenation support using an ECMO helmet. Intensive Care Med. 2014;40(10):1595-7.,3333 Rahimi RA, Skrzat J, Reddy DR, Zanni JM, Fan E, Stephens RS, et al. Physical rehabilitation of patients in the intensive care unit requiring extracorporeal membrane oxygenation: a small case series. Phys Ther. 2013;93(2):248-55.,3535 Salam S, Kotloff R, Garcha P, Krishnan S, Joshi D, Grady P, et al. Lung transplantation after 125 days on ECMO for severe refractory hypoxemia with no prior lung disease. ASAIO J. 2017;63(5):e66-8.,3636 Turner DA, Cheifetz IM, Rehder KJ, Williford WL, Bonadonna D, Banuelos SJ, et al. Active rehabilitation and physical therapy during extracorporeal membrane oxygenation while awaiting lung transplantation: a practical approach. Crit Care Med. 2011;39(12):2593-8.) Moreover, the quality of the reports of methods and results was low, and these reports were classified as insufficient or incomplete. It is worth mentioning that, because of the absence of an adequate tool to evaluate case studies, scoring was performed using a scale constructed for case series,(1818 Moga C, Guo B, Schopflocher D, Harstall C. Development of a quality appraisal tool for case series studies using a modified Delphi technique. 2012. Available from http://cobe.paginas.ufsc.br/files/2014/10/MOGA.Case-series.pdf. Acessed in October, 2017.
http://cobe.paginas.ufsc.br/files/2014/1...
) which might have underestimated the quality of these studies.

The scarcity of data emphasizes the need for more studies with robust methodological designs and focusing on assessing the risks and benefits of multimodal PT procedures used in the rehabilitation of adults on ECMO support.

CONCLUSION

This review demonstrated that physical therapy using respiratory techniques, early progressive mobilization (standing and ambulation), and functional electrical stimulation cycling is feasible and safe for patients on extracorporeal membrane oxygenation support regardless of the type of cannulation used. Nonetheless, more clinical studies are needed to confirm the benefits of physical therapy combined with extracorporeal membrane oxygenation regarding the length of hospital stay and mechanical ventilation, mortality, muscle strength, muscle mass, functional capacity, and lung function.

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Edited by

Responsible editor: Alexandre Biasi Cavalcanti

Data availability

Publication Dates

  • Publication in this collection
    13 May 2019
  • Date of issue
    Apr-Jun 2019

History

  • Received
    03 May 2018
  • Accepted
    03 Sept 2018
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