Spinal cord injury is one of severe complications after thoracic aortic surgery. The degree and time of spinal cord ischemia during surgery, reconstruction of the blood supply of spinal cord ,biochemistry factors ,ischemiareperfusion injury, etc. are considered as factors influence on the complication of spinal cord after surgery. At present, to improve the surgical technique, to increase the blood supply of spinal cord, such as the mechanical dynamic blood perfusion, arterial shunt and cerebrospinal fluid shunt, to degrade the metabolic rate of spinal cord using hypothermia, and to prevent the ischemia-reperfusion injury using drugs are the methods for spinal cord protection during the aortic surgery. The feature of blood circulation of spinal cord, mechanisms of spinal cord injury and the latest progress of spinal cord protection is reviewed in this article.