To compare the effectiveness and safety of spinal versus general anesthesia for arthroplasty with respect to deep vein thrombosis(DVT),pulmonary embolism (PE) and epidural hematoma.Randomized controlled trials involving spinal and general anesthesia for arthroplasty were searched.Quality assessment were analyzed according to the Cochrane Collaboration's rule.A total of 12 trials involving 1023 participants met the inclusion criteria,Meta-analyses showed that spinal anesthesia may reduce the incidence of DVT or PE after arthroplagty without anticoagulant.There is no difference in the incidence of DVT and PE when anticoagulant is used.Whether anticoagulant was used or not,no epidural hematoma was observed after using the two anesthesia methods.