ObjectiveTo systematically review therapy-related complications incidences of warfarin with different anticoagulation intensity in Chinese after mechanical heart valve replacement, and to explore the suitable anticoagulation intensity of warfarin. MethodsWe electronically searched The Cochrane Library (Issue 2, 2013), EMbase, PubMed, CNKI, CBM, WanFang Data and VIP for studies about therapy-related complications rates of warfarin with different anticoagulation intensity in Chinese after mechanical heart valve replacement from inception to March 2013. Two reviewers independently screened literature according to inclusion and exclusion criteria, extracted data, and assessed methodological quality of included studies. Then meta-analysis was performed using RevMan 5.2. ResultsA total of 7 studies involving 3 787 cases were finally included, 2 985 cases in Group A (targeted INR≤2.3) and 802 cases in Group B (targeted INR > 2.3). The results of meta-analysis showed that, compared with Group B, the total therapy-related complications incidence of warfarin with different anticoagulation intensity significantly decreased in Group A (OR=0.35, 95%CI 0.28 to 0.44, P < 0.000 01). The incidence of hemorrhage in Group A (OR=0.15, 95%CI 0.08 to 0.27, P < 0.000 01) was lower than that in Group B. However, the incidence of embolism in Group A was higher than that in Group B (OR=2.77, 95%CI 1.54 to 4.98, P=0.000 7). ConclusionApplying low-intensity anticoagulation for Chinese patients after mechanical heart valve replacement could reduce the overall incidences of anticoagulation-related complications and hemorrhage, but it could also significantly increase the incidence of thrombosis.