ObjectiveTo evaluate the efficacy of aerosolized aminoglycoside antibiotics in patients with ventilator-associated pneumonia (VAP) by meta-analysis.MethodsWe searched PubMed, Embase, China National Knowledge Infrastructure, VIP and Wanfang Data for the Chinese and English literature on aerosolized aminoglycoside antibiotics for VAP until May, 2018. After data extraction and quality evaluation, RevMan 5.2 software was performed for meta-analysis.ResultsA total of 9 randomized controlled trials and a total of 543 patients were included in this study. Compared with patients treated with non-atomized inhaled aminoglycoside antibiotics, meta-analysis showed that aerosol inhalation of amikacin significantly improved the clinical cure rate of patients with VAP ［odds ratio (OR)=2.37, 95% confidence interval (CI) (1.50, 3.75), P=0.000 2］, nebulized tobramycin ［OR=2.30, 95%CI (0.92, 5.78), P=0.08］ and two or more antibiotics ［OR=2.00, 95%CI (0.62, 6.46), P=0.25］ had no significant effect on the clinical cure rate of patients with VAP; aerosolized aminoglycoside antibiotics had no significant effect on mortality of patients ［OR=1.17, 95%CI (0.66, 2.07), P=0.59］ and tracheal spasm rate ［OR=2.39, 95%CI (0.94, 6.11), P=0.07］ and renal dysfunction rate ［OR=0.62, 95%CI (0.32, 1.21), P=0.16］ in patients with VAP.ConclusionInhalation of amikacin can significantly improve the clinical cure rate of patients with VAP, but it can not reduce the mortality rate of patients; the safety of aerosolized aminoglycoside antibiotics is good, and the risk of tracheal spasm and renal function damage in patients with VAP is not increased.