ObjectiveTo investigate the correlations between tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α) and lipopolysaccharide (LPS) with acute myocardial dysfunction after severe thoraco-abdominal injuries and possible mechanisms. MethodsClinical data of 82 patients with severe thoraco-abdominal injuries who were admitted to the 253rd Hospital of People's Liberation Army from January 2009 to June 2012 were retrospectively analyzed,whose trauma index (TI) were all above or equal to 17 points. Patients with concomitant brain injuries and patients who were brought in dead were excluded from this study. There were 58 male and 24 female patients with their age of 16-76 (43.59±16.33) years. There were 17 patients with open injuries and 65 patients with closed injuries. There were 23 patients with fall injuries,47 patients with traffic injuries,8 patients with blunt injuries,and 4 patients with penetrating injuries. The time from injury to admission was 1.51±0.52 hours. Blood creatine kinase-MB (CK-MB) cardiac troponin T (cTnT) TNF-α and LPS were examined during emergency treatment,and the correlations between the results were analyzed. ResultsMyocardial dysfunction was shown by CK-MB of 158.74±31.59 U/L and cTnT of 496.25±58.46 pg/ml. Injury factors were TNF-α of 36.41±18.09 ng/ml and LPS of 343.66±106.02 U/L. CK-MB was positively correlated with TNF-α and LPS with the correlation coefficient (r) of 0.923 1and 0.883 2 respectively. cTnT was also positively correlated with TNF-α and LPS with r of 0.955 6 and 0.889 1 respectively. ConclusionBoth TNF-α and LPS participate in the pathogenesis and development of acute myocardial dysfunction after severe thoraco-abdominal injuries. Early intervention against TNF-α and LPS may alleviate acute myocardial dysfunction and improve patients' survival rate after severe thoraco-abdominal injuries.