Introduction: Total hip and knee replacements are surgical procedures commonly used in cases of degenerative articular problems, intrarticular fractures and less common in tumor conditions. Despite its great success complications can arise. Objective: Describe complications in total knee and hip replacements. Methods: A descriptive study, cases serie was done in Hospital Universitario San Jose in Popayan Colombia, analyzing the period between January 2004 and January 2009, Seventy six patients were included: 53 total hips replacements, 12 cases of partial hip replacements and 11 total knee replacements. Patient's age was in the range between 27 and 97. Results: The main complications founded were: respiratory insufficiency, inability to place the prosthesis, prosthesis dislocation, anemic syndrome, acetabular protrusion, infection, iatrogenic Gushing's syndrome, discrepancy of length limb, residual pain, inability to walk, nosocomial pneumonia, renal failure and periprosthetic fracture. An average of 4, 6% mortality index, 10, 8% hip prosthesis dislocation, 9, 2% infections, all these indices over the different literature reports.