[Objective]To explore the advantages and disadvantages of minimal incision surgery(MIS) for total hip replacement.[Methods]Thirty-two patients(37 hips) who had undergone a MIS were compared with 32 patients(37hips) who had undergone conventional incision surgery with similar condictions.The length of incision,operation time,intraoperative blood loss,postoperative drainage,hospitalized days and complications were observed.[Results]The average incision length was 7.7 cm for MIS group and 11.5 cm for conventional incision group(P0.05).In MIS group,greater trochanter fracture occured in 1 patient during operation.Dislocation occurred in another patient with anterolateral approach 3 days postoperatively because of malposition of the cup,the cup was then adjusted to proper position by re-operation with extended incision length.In conventional incision group,no complication occured during or after operations.[Conclusion]Total hip replacement with the incision length of 6～8.5 cm is a very demanding technique.There were no much advantages of MIS for total hip replacement concerning surgical time,blood loss or trauma compare with a conventional incision surgery.The incision length for total hip replacement should not be stressed.The most important thing for total hip replacement is not the length of the incision and the length of incision should not be reduced at the price of more soft tissue injury.