This article is intended for healthcare professionals with training in ECMO management.
Most clinical evaluation of an ECMO platform focuses on the pump, the oxygenator, and the console. Fewer teams consider what the tubing is made of and what that means for a patient maintained on ECMO for days.
What DEHP is and why it is used
Di(2-ethylhexyl) phthalate (DEHP) has been used for decades as a plasticizer in PVC medical tubing. PVC is inherently rigid; DEHP makes it flexible enough for use in medical circuits, infusion sets, and blood product storage. It is inexpensive and effective.
The problem is that DEHP is not chemically bonded to the polymer matrix. Over time, particularly in contact with lipid-containing fluids or blood, it leaches out of the tubing into the fluid it carries.
What the evidence shows
A 2020 study published in PLOS ONE measured DEHP and its primary metabolite (MEHP) in the blood of ECMO patients. The findings showed markedly elevated concentrations compared to controls, with the highest levels in patients supported for the longest durations and in patients with impaired renal clearance.
DEHP and its metabolites are classified as endocrine disruptors. The clinical significance of DEHP exposure in critically ill ECMO patients is not fully established by the literature. But the plasticizer burden is an additional variable that DEHP-free circuits eliminate.
DEHP-free design
DEHP-free circuit design replaces the DEHP-plasticized PVC tubing with materials that do not carry this leaching risk. It is now a design standard in several contemporary ECMO systems, and is increasingly reflected in clinical procurement criteria.
The Lifemotion ECMO circuit sets (ARTG 528773) are designed without DEHP-based plasticizers. This is an engineering attribute of the circuit, not a clinical outcome claim.
The procurement question
For procurement teams and clinical governance committees assessing an ECMO platform, circuit materials are part of the total system evaluation. DEHP-free status should be one of the criteria in the procurement specification, particularly for programmes running extended circuits in paediatric patients or adult patients with marginal renal function.
For information about the Lifemotion ECMO platform, contact OHM Healthcare at sales@ohmhealthcare.com.au or visit lifemotionecmo.com.au.
For healthcare professionals and healthcare organisations. Product availability and specifications subject to the locally approved Instructions for Use.
OHM Healthcare · sales@ohmhealthcare.com.au · 03 9115 7464 · lifemotionecmo.com.au
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