ObjectivesTo systematically review the efficacy and safety of 3D laparoscopic in the treatment of colorectal cancer.MethodsPubMed, EMbase, The Cochrane Library, CBM, VIP, WanFang Data and CNKI databases were electronically searched online to collect clinical trials of 3D laparoscopic in the treatment of colorectal cancer from inception to September 1st, 2018. Two reviewers independently screened literature, extracted data and assessed the risk of bias of included studies. Meta-analysis was then performed using RevMan 5.3 software.ResultsA total of 26 trials, including 4 randomized controlled trials and 22 cohort studies were included. The results of meta-analysis showed that: compared with 2D laparoscopic, 3D laparoscopic had shorter operative time (MD=–16.32, 95%CI –22.61 to –10.03, P<0.000 01), less amount of blood transfusion in operation (MD=–10.80, 95%CI –19.93 to –1.66, P=0.02), more lymph node dissection (MD=0.88, 95%CI 0.30 to 1.45, P=0.003), shorter recovery time of gastrointestinal function (MD=–0.18, 95%CI –0.31 to –0.04, P=0.01), lower incidence of postoperative complication (OR=0.63, 95%CI 0.44 to 0.89, P=0.009), and fewer days in hospital (MD=–0.84, 95%CI –1.40 to –0.28, P=0.003). Additionally, there was no significant difference in hospitalization costs (MD=–0.01, 95%CI –0.23 to 0.21, P=0.94).ConclusionsCurrent evidence shows that, compared with 2D laparoscopy, 3D laparoscopy assisted colorectal cancer surgery has obvious advantages such as less bleeding during operation, shorter operation time, lower incidence of complications after operation, shorter hospitalization time and no increase in hospitalization expenses. Due to limited quality and quantity of the included studies, more high quality studies are required to verify above conclusions.