Objective To systematically review the effectiveness and safety of total hip arthroplasty (THA) vs. total hip resurfacing arthroplasty (THRA) in patients with osteoarthritis of the hip joint. Methods We electronically searched databases including PubMed, The Cochrane Library (Issue 3, 2012), EMbase, PloS, national institutes of clinical test library of the United States, national joint replacement registration network of Australia, British national joint registration network, British orthopaedic association network (BOA), Canada orthopaedic association (COA), American Academy of Orthopedic Surgeons network (AAOS), German Institute of Medical Documentation and Information network (DIMDI) for randomized controlled trials (RCTs) on the comparison between THA and THRA for osteoarthritis of the hip joint from inception to November, 2012. References of the included studies were also retrieved. Two reviewers independently screened literature according to the inclusion and exclusion criteria, extracted data and assessed the quality of the included studies. Then, meta-analysis was performed using RevMan 5.1 software. Results Six RCTs (10 articles) involving 518 cases of surgery (THA: n=259; THRA: n=259) were identified. The risk of bias of 8 articles was moderate and that of the other 2 articles was low. The results of meta-analysis showed that, compared to THRA, THA brings greater improvements of femoral offset within 2 years after surgery (MD=6.60, 95%CI 5.53 to 7.68, P=0.25). There were no significant differences between the two groups in Merle d’Aubigné Postel, WOMAC score, UCLA score, SF-36 Health Survey Questionnaire, walking speed, step length, walking cadence, postoperative leg length discrepancy, and complication rates. All these conclusions are based on early postoperative results. Conclusion Current evidence shows that, THA brings greater improvements of femoral offset than THRA, and no significant differences between the two groups were found in the other indicators.