Objective To investigate the effect and prognosis of extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO) in the treatment of respiratory failure. Methods This study was a retrospective study. A total of 84 respiratory failure patients diagnosed and treated in Huangshi Central Hospital from May 2019 to June 2022 were selected as the research objects. According to treatment methods, they were divided into an observation group (receiving ECMO treatment) and a control group (receiving invasive positive pressure mechanical ventilation treatment), with 42 cases in each group. In the observation group, there were 21 males and 21 females, aged (55.82±2.41) years; in the control group, there were 22 males and 20 females, aged (55.62±2.36) years. The airway resistance (RAW), airway peak pressure (Ppeak), static compliance (Cst), surplus pulse O2 (SpO2), partial pressure of arterial carbon dioxide (PaCO2), partial pressure of arterial oxygen (PaO2), forced expiratory volume in 1 second (FEV1), percentage of forced expiratory volume in 1 second to forced vital capacity (FEV1/FVC), peak expiratory flow (PEF), endothelin (ET-1), Clara cell secretion protein 16 (CC16), Copeptin, 28 d mortality, withdrawal success rate, and ventilation time were compared between the two groups. Independent sample t test and χ2 test were performed. Results Before treatment, there were no statistically significant differences in the RAW, Cst, Ppeak, SpO2, PaCO2, PaO2, FEV1, FEV1/FVC, ET-1, CC16, and Copeptin between the two groups (all P>0.05). After treatment, the RAW, Cst, PaCO2, ET-1, CC16, and Copeptin of the observation group were (16.42±1.78) cmH2O/L•s (1 cmH2O=0.098 kPa), (27.41±5.62) cmH2O, (50.01±6.32) mmHg (1 mmHg= 0.133 kPa), (14.21±2.32) ng/L, (0.18±0.03) ng/L, and (28.62±6.85) ng/L, which were significantly lower than those of the control group [(18.05±2.36) cmH2O/L•s, (25.05±4.11) cmH2O, (53.85±8.47) mmHg, (26.65±3.96) ng/L, (0.29±0.08) ng/L, and (35.74±9.52) ng/L] (all P<0.05). The Ppeak, SpO2, PaO2, FEV1, FEV1/FVC, and PEF of the observation group were (14.65±1.44) cmH2O, (96.45±17.05) %, (70.52±8.96) mmHg, (61.25±8.45) %, (68.74±9.45) %, and (4.89±0.56) L/s, which were significantly higher than those of the control group [(16.05±1.96) cmH2O, (94.11±15.14) %, (68.01±6.85) %, (48.33±6.45) %, (59.78±6.08) %, and (4.24±0.39) L/s] (all P<0.05). The 28 d mortality rate of the observation group was 9.52% (4/42), which was lower than that of the control group [28.57% (12/42)]; the ventilation time of the observation group was (9.52±2.32) d, which was shorter than that of the control group [(11.36±3.69) d]; the withdrawal success rate of the observation group was 95.24% (40/42), which was higher than that of the control group [73.81% (31/42)] (all P<0.05). Conclusion ECMO has an ideal effect in the treatment of respiratory failure, which is beneficial to improve the blood gas analysis indexes and reduce the mortality rate.