Objective To investigate the risk factors associated with acute renal failure (ARF) after thoracoabdominal aortic aneurysm (TAAA) surgery. Methods A total of 156 patients underwent TAAA repair between January 2009 and December 2017. Renal failure was defined based on the Kidney Disease Improving Global Outcomes criteria. The patients were divided into ARF group and non-ARF group based on the presence/absence of postoperative ARF. The risk factors of ARF were analyzed by univariate analysis and multivariate logistic analysis. Results The subjects included 111 males and 45 females aged (40.4±10.9) years (range:19-65 years). The surgical reasons included aortic dissection (n=130,83.3%),aneurysm (n=22,14.1%),and pseudoaneurysm (n=4,2.6%). The degrees of repair included Crawford extent I in 6 patients (3.8%),extent Ⅱ in 128 patients (82.1%),extent Ⅲ in 20 patients (12.8%),and extent Ⅳ in 2 patients(1.3%). There were 3 patients presented with aortic rupture and 6 patients received emergent operations. Nine patients (5.8%) died within 30 days after surgery,and 8 patients (5.1%) suffered from permanent paraplegia. Thirty-six patients (23.1%) had ARF after surgery,and 18 of them needed dialysis. Multivariate logistic analysis showed that smoking (OR =2.637,95%CI=1.113-6.250,P=0.028),packed red blood cell usage in operation (≥6 U) (OR =5.508,95%CI=2.144-11.930,P=0.000),reoperation for bleeding (OR=3.529,95%CI=1.298-9.590,P=0.013) were independent risk factors for ARF after TAAA repair. Conclusion Smoking,packed red blood cell usage in operation (≥6 U),reoperation for bleeding are the independent risk factors of ARF after TAAA surgery.