Abstract： Objective To evaluate the clinical safety and neurological outcomes of right axillary artery cannulation with a side graft compared with a direct approachin aortic arch replacement for patients with acute Stanford type A aortic dissection. Methods Between July 2008 and July 2010， 280 consecutive patients with acute Stanford type A aortic dissection underwent right axillary artery cannulation for cardiopulmonary bypass （CPB） in total arch replacement and stented “elephant trunk” implantation in our hospital.These 280 patients were divided into two groups according to the method of axillary artery cannulation in operation:direct arterial cannulation was used in 215 patients（direct arterial cannulationgroup， DG group， mean age of 43.1±9.5 years）， while cannulation with a side graft was used in 65 patients（ indirect cannulation group， IG group， mean age of 44.7±8.3 years）. Clinical characteristics of both groups were similar except their axillary artery cannulation method. Patient outcomes were compared as to the prevalence of clinical complications， especially neurological deficits and postoperative morbidity. Results The overall hospital mortality was 3.6% （10/280）， 3.3% （7/215） in DG group and 4.6% （3/65） in IG group respectively.Right axillary artery cannulation was successfully performed in all cases without any occurrence of malperfusion. Postoperatively， 25 patients（8.9%）developed temporaryneurological deficits， 19 cases in DG group（8.8%）， and 6 cases in IG group （9.2%）， and all these patients were cured after treatment. The incidence of postoperative complications directly related to axillary artery cannulation was significantly lower in IG group than that in DG group（1 case vs. 19 cases， P=0.045）. There were no statistical differences in arterial perfusion peak flow， peak pressure，antegrade cerebral perfusion time， deep hypothermic circulatory arrest time， and CPB time between the two groups（P ＞ 0.05）. Conclusion Right axillary artery cannulation with a side graftcan significantly reduce the postoperative complications of axillary artery cannulation. It is a safe and effective method for patients undergoing surgery for acute Stanford type A aortic dissection.