ObjectiveTo evaluate the monitoring value of brain injury biomarkers in the patients during extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO). MethodsWe searched PubMed, EMbase, the Cochrane Library, CNKI, and CBM from inception of each database to May 2015 to identify randomized controlled trials, or case-control trials, or cohort trials of brain injury biomarkers predict brain injury during ECMO. Data were extracted independently by two reviewers. Meta-analysis was conducted using STATA 12.0 software. ResultsFour retrospective trials were included. The results showed that compared with patients without brain injury, the patients with brain injury had a higher level of S100B protein (P < 0.05). The incidence of major neurological events was higher for high neuron-specific enolase level patients than mild-to-moderate neuron-specific enolase level patients (85% vs. 29%, P=0.01). The incidence of brain injury was higher for normal glial fibrillary acidic protein level than patients with glial fibrillary acidic protein > 0.436 ng/ml (OR=11.5, 95%CI 1.3-98.3). ConclusionsBrain injury biomarkers may be used as an indicator for earlier diagnosis of brain injury in patients during ECMO.