BACKGROUND:: A total joint reconstruction is related to the stress distribution throughout the prosthesis, cement and femur. It is a significant progress for reducing the stresses in all components to minimize the risk of failure. OBJECTIVE:: To summarize the investigative situation and progression about stress distribution of all components after total hip replacement. METHODS:: The databases of CNKI, EI Village and ELSEVER (2001-01/2011-01) were retrieved to search the related articles about total hip replacement and stress distribution of stem. Putting stem, biomechanical, stress and finite element analysis as terms and then selecting some related articles. The keywords were “femoral stem, stress, total hip replacement” in Chinese and “stem, prosthesis, stress, total hip replacement” in English. Thirty-four articles and two books related to the stress distribution of stem were included. RESULTS AND CONCLUSION:: The fixture problems of hip prosthesis are summarized. It is interface shear lag effect resulted from the heterogeneity stress distribution of all components, which has an effect on the interfacial loosening failure. The further study on the reason of femur-stem loosening failure and reinforcement mechanism of interfacial bonding strength is put forward.