Objective To investigate the effect of damage control laparotomy in multiple trauma care.Methods A retrospective review was made on clinical data of 33 multiple trauma cases who received damage control laparotomy from January 2009 to June 2015.Twenty-four cases were males and 9 females, with the age range of 19-68 years(mean, 41.0 years).The trauma causes included traffic injury in 21 cases, high fall injury in 6 cases, falling object injury in 5 cases, and detonator blast injury in 1 case.Injury severity score (ISS) ranged from 14 to 64 points (mean, 27.0 points).All cases presented abdominal injury.Complicated injuries included brain injury in 10 cases, chest injury in 23 cases, and pelvic limb injury in 21 cases.All cases underwent damage control laparotomy, and then temporary abdominal closure after abdomen surgery.Abdominal closure time, intro-abdominal hypertension (IAH) or abdominal compartment syndrome (ACS), related treatment methods, hospital length of stay, and complications were recorded after operation.Results Twenty-nine cases had primary fascial closure 5-12 d after surgery.Four cases were unable to complete definitive abdominal wall reconstruction within the short term, and underwent skin grafting to form planned ventral hernia.Twelve cases developed IAH or ACS, and were cured using intra-abdominal volume increment assisted by vacuum sealing draining (VSD).Hospital length of stay was 21-70 d (mean, 31.4 d).There were wound infections in 2 cases of open fractures and abdominal incision infections in 4 cases, but all were cured after debridement plus VSD treatment.Abdominal abscess occurred in 1 case, and was cured by abdominal puncture and drainage.All cases were discharged from hospital smoothly.Conclusion Rational application of damage control laparotomy is a safe and effective treatment method for multiple trauma combined with abdominal injury.