Thoracolumbar injury is a common injury in clinic. Accurate diagnosis and classification is of great significance for guiding treatment. Although there are many typing systems, no typing system has been widely accepted and used to guide clinical practice. Denis classification, spinal load classification, thoracolumbar injury classification system and severity score or thoracolumbar injury classification and severity score and AO classification have great influence in clinical practice, but they all have some shortcomings. In recent years, the classification of thoracolumbar injury has been updated, modified and supplemented constantly. When using these fracture types in clinical practice, different people often have some deviation. This paper reviews the widely used thoracolumbar injury classification system, discusses the main viewpoints, advantages and disadvantages of each classification system, and looks into the future research direction based on the current research progress.