Objective To investigate the occurrence risk for common complications of internal jugular vein (IJV) and subclavian vein (SCV) catheterization, and provide reference for the prevention and treatment of common complications during clinical intravenous infusion therapy. Methods Data from China National Knowledge Infrastructure (CNKI), Wanfang Database, VIP Database, Embase (via OVID), PubMed, Cochrane Library, CINAHL, Web of Science, and ScienceDirect were retrieved, with the search period from database establishment to August 3, 2023. Prospective cohort and experimental studies on common complications in patients with IJV and SCV cathete-rization were collected. Meta-analysis on the extracted data was performed with RevMan 5.3 software. Results A total of 29 studies involving 14 096 patients were included in the analysis, including 6 355 patients with SCV catheterization (SCV group) and 7 741 patients with IJV catheterization (IJV group). Meta-analysis results showed that the occurrence risk for hemopneumothorax (OR=0.23, 95%CI ［0.14-0.37］) and catheter tip ectopic (OR=0.16, 95%CI ［0.03-0.85］) in SCV group was higher than that in IJV group, and the occurrence risk for central venous catheter-related deep venous thrombosis in IJV group was higher than that in SCV group (OR=2.35, 95%CI ［1.31-4.21］), with statistically significant differences (all P<0.01). There were no statistical differences in the occurrence risk of vascular catheter-related bloodstream infection (CRBSI), catheter blockage, and catheter local hematoma between the two groups (all P>0.05), there was difference in the combined result of subgroup analysis regarding catheter bacterial colonization. Conclusion Compared with IJV, patients in SCV group have a higher risk of developing hemopneumothorax and catheter tip ectopic, while patients with catheterization in IJV group have a higher risk of deep veinous thrombosis. There are no significant differences in the occurrence risk for CRBSI, catheter blockage, and catheter local hematoma between two groups of patients. It is suggested that patient’s own conditions and the accessibility of deep vein catheterization should be considered more when selecting the site of deep venous catheterization.