Severe trauma can result in severe respiratory and circulatory failure with a high mortality rate，which is quite difficult for clinical treatment. In recent years，the application of extracorporeal membrane oxygenation（ECMO）to circulatory and/or respiratory failure caused by severe trauma has received more and more attention. Systemic anticoagulation is often considered as a relative contraindication to ECMO therapy in patients with severe trauma who are at higher risk of bleeding. However，recent studies have shown that venovenous（VV）-ECMO is safe and feasible for treatment of severe acute respiratory failure after trauma，and venoarterial（VA）-ECMO is of great value for treatment of cardiogenic shock and traumatic cardiac arrest. The issues such as the timing of application，anticoagulation strategies，impact on survival and risk-benefit evaluation related to ECMO application to trauma care need to be investigated further. In this study，the authors summarize advances in application of ECMO，prevention and management of related complications in patients with severe trauma，so as to provide a reference for improving the application level of ECMO.