Objective To compare thoracic epidural anesthesia（TEA） combined with general anesthesia（GA）and total-IV anesthesia（TIVA） with respect to haemodynamic differences, maintenance dosage of narcotic, recovery profile and postoperative pain. Methods Sixty-four patients, ASA physical status II-III undergoing thoracotomy were randomly allocated to two groups: thoracic epidural anesthesia（TEA） combined with general anesthesia（GA）group （group A）and total-IV anesthesia（TIVA）group（group B）. Patients in the A group received 10 ml of 0.25% bupivacaine and fentanyl 0.1 mg via the epidural route prior to skin incision, followed by an infusion of bupivacaine 0.25% and fentanyl 10 μg/ml at 5 ml/h. Group B received propofol target controlled infusion system and remifentanil. Results No statistically significant differences between the two groups with regards to the haemodynamic changes. Maintenance of anesthesia in TEA combined with GA group neither muscle relaxants nor opioid anesthetics were required. Extubate times were considerably shorter after TEA combined with GA（11±4）min in comparison with TIVA（23±16）min target controlled infusion system group（P<0.05）. The emerge of postoperative pain time were considerably longer after TEA combined with GA（7.4±2.6）min in comparison with TIVA（0.5±0.3）min target controlled infusion system group（P<0.01）. Conclusion Thoracic epidural anesthesia combined with general anesthesia for thoracotomy is rapid, safe, economic and effective method, moreover, in favor of the patients' postoperative recovery.