Objective: To assess the factors associated with outcome of patients undergoing extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO) in a large ECMO center. Methods: Patients aged >18 years who received ECMO support for postcardiotomy cardiogenic shock were identified between January 2011 and December 2015. One hundred and seventy-seven patients (64.8%) successfully weaned from ECMO. These patients were divided into two groups depending on whether they could survive to hospital discharge: the survival group (group S, n=119) and death group (group D, n=58). Multivariate logistic regression was performed to identify risk factors independently associated with in-hospital mortality. Results: Compared to those from group D, patients in group S exhibited a younger age[(53.4±11.7) vs (58.9±11.5) years], a lower inotrope score at the beginning of ECMO [25(15, 60) vs 35.0(23, 60)], a lower average platelets transfusion [4.0(2.0, 5.2) vs 5.0(3.0, 7.2)U] (all P<0.05). There were shorter duration of ECMO support [95.0(73.0, 131.0) vs 120.0(95.8, 160.2) h], shorter ventilation time [137.0(70.0, 236.8) vs 215.0(164.0, 305.0) h], shorter stay in ICU [182.0(140.0, 236.0) vs 259.0(207.0, 382.0) h] and longer hospital stay after weaned from ECMO [14(11, 24) vs 8(4, 16) d] in group S patients compared to those in group D (all P<0.05). Age>65 years (P=0.046), neurologic complications (P<0.001) and lower extremity ischemia (P<0.001) during ECMO support, left ventricular ejection fraction<35% (P=0.011) and central venous pressure (CVP)>12 cmH(2)O(P=0.018) when weaned from ECMO, and the multi-organ function failure (P<0.001) after weaned from ECMO were independently associated with in-hospital mortality. Conclusions: Neurologic complications and lower extremity ischemia that occurred during ECMO, multi-organ function failure after weaned from ECMO had a significant impact on in-hospital mortality. Further studies are needed to prevent neurologic complications and lower extremity ischemia in these patients. Interventions that could reduce these complications may improve outcome.