Clinical characteristics and outcomes of five critical COVID-19 patients treated with extracorporeal membrane oxygenation in Leishenshan Hospital in Wuhan

• Providing early ECMO support due to carbon dioxide retention and on-time decannulation may be more beneficial to patients. • The duration from tracheal intubation to ECMO cannulation was more than 7 days in some patients. • The application rules of ECMO vary in different regions.