Traumatic spinal cord injury (SCI) has devastating effects on patients′ physical and mental health. Autophagy is widely involved in various physiological and pathological processes of the body and plays a key role in spinal cord injury. The mammalian target of rapamycin (mTOR) is the main regulator of autophagy. mTOR regulation of autophagy is closely related to the pathological process of spinal cord injury, and can effectively promote the recovery of spinal cord injury. Therefore, mTOR is a promising target for treatment of spinal cord injury. This article reviews the role of mTOR signal transduction pathway in the regulation of autophagy in spinal cord injury, in order to provide reference for follow-up research.