Objective:To study the risk factor for thrombocytopenia in patients with multiple organ dysfunction syndrome (MODS) and the influence on patient outcome. Methods:Three hundreds of sixty-six MODS patients admitted to 5 intensive care units within 1 year were analyzed retrospectively.The demographic characteristics,clinical information,acute physiology and chronic health evaluation (APACHE) Ⅱ score,and sequential organ failure assessment (SOFA) score were recorded upon review of patient record.The primary end point was hospital mortality. Results:One hundred and fiftyone patients (41.3%) died during hospitalization. Thrombocytopenia (odds ratio [OR] 2.143,95% confidence interval [95%CI] 1.114 - 4.121,P=0.022),neurologic failure (OR 6.033, 95% CI 3.164-11.506,P<0.001),and maximum SOFA score (OR 1.215,95%CI 1.112-1.328,P<0.001) were significantly associated with hospital mortality.Two hundred and twenty MODS patients (60.1%) developed thrombocytopenia.ICU stay (OR 1.017,95%CI 1.002-1.032,P=0.023) and maximum SOFA score (OR 1.271,95%CI 1.187-1.361,P<0.001) were significantly associated with development of thrombocytopenia,while maximum SOFA score (OR 1.405,95%CI 1.276-1.548,P<0.001) and secondary thrombocytopenia (OR 3.517,95%CI 1.780-6.951,P<0.001) were independent risk factor for hospital mortality in MODS patients with thrombocytopenia. Conclusion:Thrombocytopenia is very common in MODS patients,and is associated with increased hospital mortality.