Objective To compare the clinical effect of two hemostatic methods for patients with pelvic fracture combined with hemorrhagic shock in the early stage.Methods A retrospective analysis was done on clinical data of 90 patients with unstable pelvic fracture combined with hemorrhagic shock managed by damage control resuscitation from January 2008 to December 2012.Unstable blood pressure and abdominal distension were noted postoperatively.Forty patients in Group A received laparotomy and bilateral internal iliac artery ligation from January 2008 to January 2010.Fifty patients in Group B underwent internal iliac artery embolization from February 2010 to December 2012.Comparative measurement was made on parameters of mortality,24-hour blood transfusion volume,24-hour lactic acid value,postoperative systolic blood pressure,postoperative body temperature,and postoperative prothrombin time (PT).Results Following parameters differed significantly between Groups A and B (P ＜ 0.05):mortality rate (53％ vs 12％),24-hour blood transfusion volume[(3 865.5 ±451.3)ml vs (2 108.8 ±336.4)ml],24-hour lactic acid value[(13.0 ± 2.0)mmol/L vs (5.4 ± 1.2)mmol/L],postoperative systolic blood pressure [(80.50 ± 22.73) mmHg vs (113.23 ± 20.89) mmHg],postoperative body temperature [(32.4 ± 0.2)℃ vs (36.1 ±0.3)℃],postoperative PT [(24.5 ±3.6)s vs (18.4±2.1)s].Conclusion For pelvic fracture combined with hemorrhagic shock,if the indications of abdominal viscera rupture are unclear,the interventional embolization can gain advantage over laparotomy in improving treatment success rate and reducing mortality and complications.