Objective:To explore the curative effect of extracorporeal membrane oxygenation(ECMO) on severe acute respiratory dis-tress syndrome(ARDS) and its influences on prognosis of patients. Methods:Sixty patients with severe ARDS who were admitted to the hospital from September 2015 to September 2019 were enrolled as study objects,and they were randomized into control group(n=30)and observation group(n=30). The control group was treated with ventilator,while the observation group was treated with ECMO. The hemodynamic indexes [heart rate(HR),pulmonary arterial pressure(PAP),cardiac output index(CI)],blood gas indexes[partial pressure of oxygen(PaO2),partial pressure of carbon dioxide(PaCO2),blood oxygen saturation(SaO2),mixed venous oxygen partial pressure(PvO2),mixed venous carbon dioxide partial pressure(PvCO2),mixed venous oxygen saturation(SvO2)],oxygen metabolism indexes[oxygen consumption(VO2),oxygen delivery(DO2),oxygen extraction rate(ERO2),blood lactic acid(Lac)],incidence of com-plications,success rate of weaning and survival were compared between the two groups. Results:After treatment,HR,PAP and CI in observation group were higher than those in control group(P<0.05). After treatment,PaO2,SaO2,PvO2 and SvO2 in observation group were higher than those in control group,while PaCO2 and PvCO2 were lower than those in control group(P<0.05). After treatment,DO2,VO2 and ERO2 were higher in observation group than control group,while Lac was lower than control group(P<0.05). The incidence of complications in observation group was lower than that in control group(6.67% vs. 26.67%)(P<0.05). The success rate of wean-ing and 3-month survival rate in observation group were higher than those in control group,without significant difference(P>0.05). Conclusion:ECMO has a significant curative effect on severe ARDS patients,which can improve oxygen metabolism,and maintain hemodynamics stability,reduce incidence of complications and mortality,and can be applied as an effective means for clinical treat-ment of severe ARDS.