Objective    To investigate the independent risk factors associated with postoperative acute respiratory distress syndrome in patients undergoing type A aortic dissection surgery. Methods    The clinical data of 147 patients who underwent acute type A aortic dissection surgery in the First Affiliated Hospital of Anhui Medical University from 2015 to 2019 were retrospectively analyzed. There were 110 males at age of 51.9±10.1 years and 37 females at age of 54.3±11.1 years. According to whether the patients developed ARDS after surgery, all of the patients were divided into a ARDS group or a non-ARDS group. Logistic regress analysis was utilized to establish the predictive mode to identify the independent risk factors related to ARDS. Results    Of the patients, 25 developed postoperative ARDS. Among them, 5 patients were mild ARDS, 13 patients were moderate, and 7 patients were severe ARDS. Multivariate logistic regression analysis showed that deep hypothermic circulatory arrest time [odds ratio (OR)=1.067, 95% confidence interval (CI) 1.014-1.124, P=0.013], cardiopulmonary bypass time (OR=1.012, 95%CI 1.001-1.022, P=0.027) and perioperative plasma input (OR=1.001, 95%CI 1.000-1.002, P=0.011) were independently associated with ARDS in patients undergoing acute A aortic dissection surgery. Receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve analysis demonstrated a good discrimination ability of the logistic regression model, with an area under the curve of 0.835 (95%CI 0.740-0.929, P=0.000). Conclusion    Duration of deep hypothermic circulatory arrest, cardiopulmonary bypass time and perioperative plasma are independent risk factors for postoperative ARDS in patients undergoing type A aortic dissection surgery.