Objective To summarize experiences in treatment of traumatic aortic rupture. Methods Between July 2001 and December 2008, 17 patients with acute traumatic aortic rupture were treated in our department. One patient died of hemorrhagic shock one hour after admission before opera-tion. Nine patients underwent thoracotomy under general anesthesia with double lumen endotracheal tube and normothermic femoral-femoral partial cardiopulmonary bypass, with bypass time for 35-139 minutes and aortic clamping time for 25-87 minutes. Successful operation was performed in seven patients inclu-ding one treated with simple repair and the other six with partial replacement of thoracic aorta with artifi-cial vascular graft. The other seven patients underwent endovascular repair and received stent grafts at the site of thoracic injury via right lilac-femoral artery under general or local anesthesia. Results One pa-tient free from operation was died of hemorrhagic shock. Of nine patients treated with thoracotomy, two patients died of hemorrhagic shock during operation and the other seven survived, with operation time ran-ging from 100 to 180 minutes. Seven survivors were followed-up for 2-6 years, with no death during fol-low-up period. Seven patients in endovascular repair group recovered, wiht operation time ranging from 50 to 70 minutes. All these seven patients were followed up for 3-14 months, which showed no death. Reex-amined CT in six patients showed no mediastinal hematoma or leakage of contrast medium from the aorta isthmus at 2-5 months after operation. Conclusions Endovascular repair is simple, safe and effective for traumatic aortic rupture. The selection of thoracotomy and endovascular repair is based on following conditions: the combined injuries of patients, the equipments of hospital and the skills of operators.