Pediatric patients in critical condition require advanced therapies that reduce mortality and improve outcomes. This is the case with extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO), which has become a useful tool in extreme conditions where cardiovascular and respiratory support is needed. One of its uses is perioperative support in the surgical correction of congenital heart disease, during which multiple transfusions are performed to optimize coagulopathy induced by associated pathologies and the device. However, there are few studies that clarify the transfusion requirements and mortality in this special population. The main pediatric critical care and extracorporeal circulation societies lack sufficient information to establish optimal transfusion thresholds in these patients and consider this as an area of research interest. The aim of this study is to describe the transfusion volume (measured in milliliters/kilogram/day) in pediatric patients undergoing congenital heart defect correction with perioperative requirement of ECMO at Fundación Cardioinfantil from March 2014 to April 2022. For this purpose, an observational, descriptive, retrospective, cross-sectional study was conducted. The transfusion volume of blood products (red blood cells, platelets, plasma, cryoprecipitate) is described based on the survival of the patients, and the demographic, clinical, and paraclinical characteristics of this population are defined, along with some relevant outcomes. The goal is to achieve an institutional and local characterization of this patient group.
