Objective. Total hip arthroplasty (THA) and total knee arthroplasty (TKA) are effective procedures for patients with moderate-to-severe osteoarthritis. Mortality rates after THA and TKA may have changed because of new surgical techniques, improvement of peri-and postoperative care, and performance of surgery in older patients having multiple comorbidities. However, data on secular mortality trends are scarce. We undertook this study to evaluate mortality patterns between 1989 and 2007 in patients undergoing elective THA and TKA.Methods. In a Danish retrospective nationwide cohort study, 71,812 patients who underwent THA and 40,642 patients who underwent TKA were identified between January 1989 and December 2007. All-cause and disease-specific mortality was assessed, stratified by calendar periods. Using Cox proportional hazards models, relative risks (RRs) of mortality were calculated between different calendar periods, adjusted for age, sex, and comorbid diseases. Conclusion. Mortality rates following elective THA and TKA have decreased substantially since the early 1990s, despite patients having more presurgical comorbidity. These findings are reassuring for patients undergoing elective THA or TKA.Total hip arthroplasties (THAs) and total knee arthroplasties (TKAs) are considered safe and effective surgical procedures in patients with moderate-to-severe osteoarthritis (1). Given this effectiveness, the number of these procedures has substantially increased over the past decades. Estimates indicate that 1.8 million procedures are performed worldwide each year (2,3). Nevertheless, studies have shown an excess mortality rate shortly after THA and TKA (4-7), particularly due to venous thromboembolism and acute myocardial infarction (MI) (8). The all-cause mortality rate during the first 90 days following these orthopedic surgeries has been estimated at 0.7%.Improvements in surgical technique and the introduction of new therapeutic agents may have improved survival following THA and TKA during the past