Objective To investigate the hospital outcomes and therapeutic strategy for multiple organ dysfunction syndrome （MODS） in children after cardiac surgery. Methods Seventy-seven consecutive pediatric patients （57 male/20 female, age 3.47±3.67 years, weight 13.08±7.52 kg） with MODS after cardiac surgery were enrolled in the study from 1999.7 to 2005.10. Corrective and palliative operation were performed in sixty-six patients and eleven patients, respectively. We evaluated the clinical score for all study patients according to the extent of organ injury. Results The overall mortality rate was 28. 6%（22/77）. （1） Cardiovascular, renal, hepatic, hematologic, neurologic and respiratory dysfunction was present in 100% （77/77）, 97.4% （75/77）, 84.4% （65/77）, 48.1%（37/77）, 45. 5%（35/77） and 44. 2%（34/77） of the patients, respectively. Cardiac injury appeared much earlier than other organs （P〈0. 05）. （2） Mortality rate with two, three, four, five and six dysfunctional organ systems was 0%, 12.5 %, 31.8 %, 42. 9 % and 87.5 %, respectively （r=0.487, P〈0. 001 in trend）. Furthermore, there was a positive correlation between the clinic score and mortality rate （r=0.603, P〈0. 001）. （3） Compared with survivors, non-survivors had longer cardiopulmonary bypass time, clamping time, higher incidence of accidental events and cardiopulmonary resuscitation during and after surgery （P〈0. 05）. Conclusion Mortality associated with MODS was highly correlated with the number of organ failing and clinical score. Cardiac dysfunction was the primary disease in MODS after cardiac surgery. Therefore, therapeutic strategy for MODS should be focused on management of primary disease, as well as providing consecutive evaluation and improvement for organ function.