Objective To ecplore the effects of combined therapy in the treatement of patients with thoracolumbar burst fractures and the imaging application value of CT and MRI. Methods 75 cases of patients with thoracolumbar burst fractures treated in our hospital from January 2013 to May 2015 were taken as the research objects. MRI or CT examination was performed before and after surgery. The pain and kyphose Cobb angle of patients were compared before and after operation. Results After surgical treatment, the pain VAS score (6.5±1.6) was reduced to (3.2±0.8) and convex Cobb angle (21.8±3.8)°decreased to (5.7±1.7)°. The differences were P<0.05. The total incidence rate of complications was 21.3%. The information displayed by spiral CT such as vertebral fracture line, horizontal small fractures, spinal structure, mild joint dislocation, fractures of vertebral arch and intra-articular fracture accounted for 72.0% which was higher than that by MRI 63.2%. The spinal cord injury and vertebral bone marrow contusion showed by MRI accounted for 84.2%which was higher than that by spiral CT 57.3%. Conclusion The curative effect of combined therapy in the treatement of patients with thoracolumbar burst fractures is satisfactory and the application of CT and MRI in patients before and after operation is of great value, which is helpful for the diagnosis and comprehensive evaluation analysis of prognosis.