ObjectiveTo systematically evaluation the efficacy and safety of laparoscopic cholecystectomy(LC) and open cholecystectomy(OC) for chronic atrophic cholecystitis. MethodsStandard electronic database such as PubMed, Web of science, Cochrane library, CNKI, VIP, CBM, and Wanfang database were searched to retrieve relevant randomized controlled trials(RCTs) that comparing LC with OC, which were analyzed systematically using RevMan5.2. ResultsSeven RCTs including 758 patients were brought into this Meta analysis. There were significant differences between two groups regarding operative time(MD=-27.70, 95% CI:-44.25--11.16, P=0.001), amount of blood loss during operation(MD=-113.25, 95% CI:-141.68--84.81, P < 0.000 01), the recovery time of gastrointestinal function(MD=-28.49, 95% CI:-29.80--27.18, P < 0.000 01), and length of hospital stay(MD=-3.83, 95% CI:-6.01--1.65, P=0.000 6), There were statistically significant difference in utilization rate of anodynes after operation(MD=0.12, 95% CI:0.06-0.23, P < 0.000 1) and terrible postoperative complications(MD=0.24, 95% CI:0.12-0.47, P < 0.000 01) between LC and OC. ConclusionsIn both efficacy and safety, LC for chronic atrophic cholecystitis are significantly superior than the traditional OC. But now the clinical randomized controlled trials about LC is less and the quality is poor, so that its long-term safety evaluation still needs large sample quality RCTs to be further verified.