Recommendation | Link | Chapters | Recommendation text | Topic | Conflicts with | Practical implication | Organization | Evidence certainty | Year | Verified |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1, 3 | Dated August 2017. The umbrella ELSO document covering indications, circuit, management and complications across all ECLS populations. | General ECLS principles, all patient groups | Nine years old at the September 2026 search date. Use for orientation only; every specific recommendation must be checked against the relevant condition-specific guideline and post-2017 evidence. | ELSO | Consensus / ungraded | 2017 | ||||
39, 40, 41, 42, 43, 44, 45, 46 | Dated January 2022. | Anticoagulation and haemostasis during ECLS | Primary reference for Part VII. Substantial inter-centre practice variation persists in agent choice and monitoring target. | ELSO | Consensus / ungraded | 2022 | ||||
4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10 | Dated June 2021. | VV ECMO in adult respiratory failure | Primary reference for Part II. Predates several post-pandemic analyses. | ELSO | Consensus / ungraded | 2021 | ||||
11, 12, 13, 14, 18 | Dated August 2021. Explicitly interim. | VA ECMO in adult cardiac failure | ECLS-SHOCK 2023 and the 2023 IPD meta-analysis on routine early VA ECMO in infarct-related cardiogenic shock | POTENTIALLY OUTDATED. Predates ECLS-SHOCK (2023) and the 2023 individual patient data meta-analysis, which found no mortality benefit and a clear harm signal for routine early VA ECMO in infarct-related cardiogenic shock. Any pre-2023 recommendation on that question must be re-checked. | ELSO | Consensus / ungraded | 2021 | |||
61 | Dated October 2025. Narrative methodology. | ECMO in pregnancy and the peripartum period | Current primary reference for Chapter 61. Narrative guideline: expert synthesis, not a graded evidence appraisal. | ELSO | Consensus / ungraded | 2025 | ||||
85, 86, 87, 88 | Published June 2026. Most recent ELSO guideline at the 6 September 2026 search date. | ECMO training, competency and continuing education | Relevant to programme design and to the handbook chapters in Part XIII. | ELSO | Consensus / ungraded | 2026 | ||||
65 | Dated October 2025. Narrative methodology. | ECLS rewarming in accidental hypothermia | Current primary reference for Chapter 65. | ELSO | Consensus / ungraded | 2025 | ||||
19, 20, 21, 22 | Dated March 2021. Explicitly interim. | ECPR patient selection and delivery in adults | Predates INCEPTION (2023). Primary reference for Part IV pending the ECMO-during-CPR guideline flagged in the 2026 ELSO roadmap. | ELSO | Consensus / ungraded | 2021 | ||||
23, 28 | Dated December 2024. | Neuromonitoring and neurological management on ECMO | Current primary reference for Chapter 28 and relevant to Chapter 23. | ELSO | Consensus / ungraded | 2024 | ||||
60 | Dated February 2022. Supersedes the May 2015 transport guideline held in the project source library. | Inter-hospital transport of patients on ECMO | Use the 2022 version. The 2015 PDF in the project library is superseded. | ELSO | Consensus / ungraded | 2022 | ||||
59, 83, 84 | Published February 2025. | Early mobilisation and rehabilitation on ECMO | Current primary reference for Chapter 59 and relevant to awake and ambulatory ECMO. | ELSO | Consensus / ungraded | 2025 |