Objective To observe the clinical effect and complications of intravenous immunoglobulin(IVIG)in the treatment of severe adenovirus pneumonia(SAP)in children. Methods Clinical data of 210 hospitalized children with SAP from June 2009 to June 2011 were retrospectively analyzed. Patients were divided into IVIG group (109 cases) and control group (101 cases) to compare the therapeutic effects, duration of fever, length of stay in hospital, duration of mechanical ventila-tion, and complications between the two groups. Results There was no difference in the severity of illness on admission and un-derlying diseases between the two groups. Both groups were given antiviral, antibacterial and comprehensive supporting thera-py, and in the IVIG group IVIG 250-400mg/(kg.d) were administered for 3-5 d. The mean hospital stay and fever time of the IVIG group were significantly shortened comparing to that of the control group, and the time of mechanical ventilation on the IVIG group is less than that of the non-IVIG group. Incidence rate of pleural effusion, atelectas is, myocarditis and toxic enceph-alopathy in the IVIG group is lower than the control group, and the cure rateand effective therapy of the IVIG group is higher than control group, all of the difference was statistically significant (P<0.05). No adverse drug reaction was observed. Conclu-sions IVIG is safe and effective in the treatment of SAP in children.