Objective To analyze the relationship between the factors causing thoracolumbar burst fracture and the corresponding clinical manifestations, so as to improve the early warning and diagnosis of thoracolumbar burst fracture, reduce the misdiagnosis and missed diagnosis, and improve the success rate of first aid. Methods The clinical data of thoracolumbar burst fractures treated in the Intensive Care Unit of Depretment of Emergency of our hospital from Jan. 2009 to Dec. 2018 were retrospectively analyzed. The clinical data, including age, sex, hospital duration, causes, complications, discharge, and prognosis, were analyzed retrospectively. Results A total of 83 patients with thoracolumbar burst fracture, including 69 males (83.13%) and 14 females (16.87%), were selected for this study. The average age was (44.64±15.26) years. The causes of the injury included:high falling injury (53 cases, 63.86%), traffic accident injury (17 cases, 20.48%), and heavy object injury (12 cases, 14.46%). There were 31 cases (37.35%) of craniocerebral injury, 53 cases (63.86%) of chest injury, 37 cases (44.58%) of abdominal injury, 44 cases (53.01%) of other fracture. Among the 53 cases of chest injury, there were 19 cases (35.85%) with hemopneumothorax, 13 cases (13.21%) with simple hemothorax, 7 cases (24.53%) with simple pneumothorax, 8 cases (15.09%) with mediastinal hemorrhage, 7 cases (13.21%) with mediastinal emphysema, 11 cases (20.75%) with flail chest, and 5 cases (9.43%) with diaphragmatic hernia. Among 37 cases of abdominal injuries, there were 8 cases (21.62%) with rupture of spleen, 3 cases (8.11%) with subcapsule hematomas, and 4 cases (10.81%) with simultaneous injury of liver and spleen. The missed diagnoses at the initial diagnosis included:5 cases (100.00%) of diaphragmatic hernia, 5 cases (62.50%) of mediastinal hemorrhage, 4 cases (57.14%) of mediastinal emphysema, 2 cases (18.18%) of flail chest, and 2 cases (15.38%) of simple hemothorax. Missed diagnosis rate of the other complications were all under 10.00%. The main complications were bronchopneumonia (37 cases, 44.58%) and traumatic hemorrhagic shock (17 cases, 20.48%). There were 8 cases (9.64%) complicated with multiple organ dysfunction syndrome (MODS), with more than 3 systems involved. There were 39 patients (46.99%) had paraplegia and 3 cases (3.61%) died at discharge. Conclusion Thoracolumbar burst fractures are more common in young and middle-aged men, with high falling being the primary cause and hemopneumothorax being the main clinical manifestation. Diaphragmatic hernia, mediastinal hemorrhage and mediastinal emphysema are easy to have missed diagnosis. Nearly 50% patients have traumatic paraplegia, which is worthy of attention and in-depth study.