Primary blast lung injury is an acute lung injury caused by the direct impact of explosive shock wave acting on the lung; the serious case can develop acute respiratory distress syndrome, which is one of the leading causes of mortality in blast injury personnel. The pathophysiological characteristics of primary lung blast injury are relatively clear: rupture of the alveolar capillaries and subsequent intrapulmonary haemorrhage and edema, accompanied by oxidative stress, apoptosis, inflammatory reaction and other physiological processes. However, the molecular mechanism needs to be further studied. This paper focuses on the research progress of phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase/protein kinase, nuclear factor κB, mitogen-activated protein kinase and other signaling pathways in the research of primary blast lung injury.