ObjectiveTo investigate the effect of anodal transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) combined with rehabilitation interventions on the patients suffering from motor dysfunction after traumatic spinal cord injury (SCI).MethodsTwo hundred and twenty-five patients with SCI from September 2015 to November 2018 were retrospectively included in this study. According to their accepted rehabilitation interventions, patients were divided into the intervention group and the control group. In the control group, the patients just accepted routine rehabilitation interventions, including movement therapy on limbs, physical therapy and acupuncture, while the patients in the intervention group accepted anodal tDCS combined with routine interventions (the same as the control group). The baseline between the two groups was similar. Moreover, subgroup analysis including trauma site and extent were carried out for further exploration for the positive effect of tDCS on motor function suffering from acute traumatic SCI. American Spinal Injury Association (ASIA) motor item, Functional IndependenceMeasure (FIM) and modified Barthel index (MBI), as well as motor evoked potential (MEP) were carried out for the evaluation of motor function ahead of and 30 days after intervention.ResultsAfter 30-day rehabilitation intervention, the scores of ASIA motor item (48.26±6.57), FIM (60.68±6.05) and MBI (68.73±7.57) were all significantly higher in the intervention group than those in the control group (all P<0.05). Besides, MEP latency of C7 [(9.20±0.42) ms], hand area [(17.81±0.56) ms], Pf [(3.24±0.47) ms] and leg area [(23.06±0.98) ms], as well as central motor conduction time of upper limbs [(6.08±0.50) ms] and lower limbs [(18.06±0.99) ms] were all significantly lower in the intervention group than those in the control group (P<0.05). In addition, the subgroup analyses based on injury site and injury extent also showed that anodal tDCS associated with better motor recovery, in that the scores of ASIA motor item, FIM and MBI were all significantly higher in the intervention group than those in the control group (P<0.05), while the MEP central motor conduction time of upper limbs and lower limbs were all significantly lower in the intervention group than those in the control group (P<0.05).ConclusionAnodal tDCS could distinctly promote the recovery of motor function in patients suffering from motor dysfunction after traumatic SCI, indicating that anodal tDCS may play an important role in the rehabilitation intervention for neurological dysfunction.