During the 1970s, extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO) was a prevalent therapy given to neonatal patients as treatment for meconium aspiration, persistent pulmonary hypertension, and respiratory distress syndrome.1 The use of ECMO, however, has recently increased among older infants and children. Internationally, more than 63 000 newborns, infants, and children younger than 18 years are supported on ECMO.1 The variability in ECMO practices— in part due to rapid technological advances and new clinical indications (eg, burns, malignancy, hematopoietic stem cell transplant)—makes ECMO ideal for standardization and protocols.1 Modifiable aspects of ECMO-related care that can be standardized should be. Pressure injury prevention is one of these aspects of care, and the increasing volume of patients receiving ECMO presents an opportunity to improve patient safety and reduce the undesirable outcome of hospital-acquired pressure injuries (HAPIs) within this population.
Critically ill children are at risk for HAPIs—1.4% of hospitalized infants and...