With the aging of population and the improvement of living standards in China, the demand for biomedical devices and implant materials with high-performance has increased dramatically. At present, some properties of common biomedical implant metals or alloys, such as corrosion resistance and biocompatibility, can not fully meet the actual clinical requirements. Therefore, it is necessary to perform surface modification treatment on biomedical metal materials. First, combined with the characteristics, properties and recent development of LDHs, the progress of common medical drug-loaded LDHs is reviewed, and the prospects of drug-loaded LDHs in sustained and controlled release, targeted delivery and cancer treatment are proposed. It is pointed out that drug-loaded LDHs containing elements Mg and Zn has special functions. Then, the preparation methods of single and composite LDHs coatings on the surface of common medical degradable metals (magnesium, zinc and their alloys) and non-degradable metals (titanium alloys) are summarized, different types of LDHs coatings and their advantages are introduced, and the shortcomings and potential application possibilities of current hydrotalcite coatings on different medical metals are emphatically analyzed. In addition, it is concluded that the performance of the metal surface LDHs composite coating is stronger than a single coating in many aspects, and it is proposed that the dense LDHs coating is usually used as the upper coating to play the role of sealing. Finally, the application prospect of LDHs containing Zn and Mg elements in biomedical direction is prospected, and the possible reasons for the development of LDHs containing Al and Li in biomedical direction are analyzed. It is hoped to provide a reference for the development of LDHs coating on medical metal surface.