4 ms·
My wife treats ECMO patients, and it is not uncommon for them to attempt suicide by pulling out the cannulas. A couple have succeeded. What follows is a rapid e
by queuebert 4y ago
My wife treats ECMO patients, and it is not uncommon for them to attempt suicide by pulling out the cannulas. A couple have succeeded. What follows is a rapid exsanguination over the next few minutes as the machine pumps their blood onto the floor at 2 L/min. That tells me the quality of life while on treatment is not good.
The ones that survive the treatment (less than half) are never the same. But they aren't dead.
- ceejayoz 4y agoI'd be cautious assuming intensive care patients are entirely of right mind. Something in ICU treatment tends to induce delirium/psychosis. https://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/publications/hopkins_medicine_magazine/features/delirium https://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/publications/hopkins_me... > The sickest of survivors frequently experience delirium at some point in their course of treatment. The condition occurs in 70 to 80 percent of acute respiratory failure cases, according to a 2013 study in the New England Journal of Medicine. Among the elderly the ICU delirium rate is similarly at about 80 percent, experts say.
- queuebert 4y agoNote I did not say everyone who pulls out their cannula is doing it intentionally. You are right that some do it accidentally, which is extremely sad.
- ceejayoz 4y ago> I did not say everyone who pulls out their cannula is doing it intentionally. That's not my objection. I'm saying the folks who do it intentionally may not always be of sound mind. It's not uncommon for folks coming out of anesthesia to panic and be distressed, especially if they're intubated.