Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
Case Reports
. 2020 Jun;35(3):514-521.
doi: 10.1002/ncp.10468. Epub 2020 Feb 21.

Oxandrolone in Patients on Venovenous Extracorporeal Membrane Oxygenation: A Case Series

Stacy L Pelekhaty  1   2 , Mehrnaz Pajoumand  1 , Kristen S Omanwa  1 , Samuel M Galvagno Jr  2   3 , James H Lantry  2   3 , Kristopher B Deatrick  3 , Christopher R Cornachione  1 , Jay Menaker  2   3
Affiliations
Case Reports

Oxandrolone in Patients on Venovenous Extracorporeal Membrane Oxygenation: A Case Series

Stacy L Pelekhaty et al. Nutr Clin Pract. 2020 Jun.

Abstract

Venovenous extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (VV ECMO) induces a systemic inflammatory response, which may progress to persistent inflammation, immunosuppression, and catabolism syndrome (PICS). The anabolic steroid oxandrolone may improve the metabolic aberrations of PICS. We report our experience with 3 patients on VV ECMO who received oxandrolone after demonstrating refractory catabolism on serial nitrogen balance (NB) studies or persistent weakness. Patients in cases 1 and 3 were started on oxandrolone on VV ECMO days 45 and 29, respectively, for negative NB despite nutrition optimization. The case 2 patient started oxandrolone for persistent weakness 68 days after cannulation. All patients demonstrated improvements in NB results. One patient developed mild transaminitis while on oxandrolone, which did not alter his medication course and resolved after the medication was discontinued. The impact of oxandrolone on functional capacity varied between patients. Oxandrolone may be beneficial in persistently catabolic VV ECMO patients to improve NB results. In some patients, this may support functional recovery. Additional research is needed to identify optimal patients for therapy and to investigate the impact of oxandrolone in this population.

Keywords: anabolic agents; critical illness; extracorporeal membrane oxygenation; nitrogen balance; nutrition support; oxandrolone.

PubMed Disclaimer

Similar articles

See all similar articles

References

    1. Extracorporeal Life Support Organization. ECLS Registry Report. https://www.elso.org/Registry/Statistics.aspx. Published 2019. Accessed March 30, 2019.
    1. Pelekhaty S, Galvagno SM, Jr., Lantry J, et al. Are current nutrition recommendations for the critically ill adequate for patients on VV ECMO-experience from a high-volume center [published online May 15, 2019]. JPEN J Parenter Enteral Nutr. https://doi.org/10.1002/jpen.1602.
    1. Puthucheary Z, Montgomery H, Moxham J, Harridge S, Hart N. Structure to function: muscle failure in critically ill patients. J Physiol. 2010;588(Pt 23):4641-4648.
    1. Puthucheary ZA, Rawal J, McPhail M, et al. Acute skeletal muscle wasting in critical illness. JAMA. 2013;310(15):1591-1600.
    1. Puthucheary ZA, Rahul P, Rawal J, et al. Qualitative ultrasound in acute critical illness muscle wasting. Crit Care Med. 2015;43(8):1603-1611.

Publication types

LinkOut - more resources