Objective To explore the early application effect of minimally invasive subfemoral approach and traditional limited patellar approach in total knee arthroplasty (TKR), in order to provide a new basis for the treatment of patientswith osteoarthritis (OA).Methods The study was a retrospective study with 99 patients with osteoarthritis admittedto the orthopaedic department of our hospital from December 2015 to January 2017 as subjects. 100 patients were randomly divided into minimally invasive surgery group (52 patients) and traditional surgery group (47 patients). The operation time, hemoglobin content (Hb) before and 24 hours after operation, VAS score before and after operation were observed and recorded. The imaging data of the patients were recorded.Results There was no statistical difference in baseline data between the two groups（P＞0.05）. There were significant differences in blood loss during operation, postoperative blood loss and total blood loss between the two groups（P＜0.05）. In the two groups, there was no significant difference in the VAS scores between the two groups before operation（P＞0.05）. There were significant differences in VAS between the 1 day, 1 week after TKA. However, there was no significant difference in VAS at 3 month and 6 month after operation（P＞0.05).ConclusionUnder the guidance of the theory of accelerated rehabilitation surgery, TKR via minimally invasive subfemoral approach can achieve good postoperative results.