Extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO) is an important procedure because it provides assistance to patients suffering from some type of cardiac and/or respiratory condition that prevents them from proper blood circulation. There are mainly two types of ECMO, veno-venous and venoarterial, the first being used in patients with purely respiratory problems. With regard to its evolution, numerous advances have shown an increase in its efficiency in relation to the risk-benefit of the affected, as well as its application in people with acute respiratory diseases such as Acute Respiratory Distress Syndrome (ARDS), which cannot be solved through regular techniques. Basically it is a procedure that is carried out to prevent the cardiopulmonary system from failing, after complications that can make this condition intractable through traditional methods. In relation to ECMO therapy, ARDS is one of the situations that has most led to studies due to its complications that endanger the life of the individual, several analyzes show that this technique is indeed effective as evidenced by the CESAR test, improving the survival of the patient and in general refining the mortality rates. The results of this method have been encouraging, implying a great improvement against mechanical ventilation, however, not everything is positive because it also has difficulties linked to bleeding and nosocomial infection. In general, it is concluded that this technique seeks and in a significant proportion of cases it manages to optimize the condition of life of the person.