ObjectiveTo systematically review the efficacy and safety of ibuprofen for premature infants with patent ductus arteriosus. MethodsDatabases including PubMed, Ovid-EMbase, The Cochrane Library (Issue 11, 2014), CNKI, WanFang Data and VIP were searched to collect randomized controlled trials (RCTs) and quasi-RCTs about ibuprofen for premature infants with patent ductus arteriosus from inception to December 2014. Two reviewers independently screened literature, extracted data and assessed the risk of bias of included studies. Then meta-analysis was conducted by RevMan 5.3 software. ResultsA total of 37 RCTs, involving 2 370 patients were included. The results of meta-analysis showed that, compared with the placebo/blank group, ibuprofen could increase the closure rate of PDA (LBWI:RR=1.93, 95%CI 1.25 to 2.99，P=0.003; VLBW:RR=1.23, 95%CI 1.02 to 1.48, P=0.03; ELBWI:RR=2.86, 95%CI 1.51 to 5.41, P=0.001) and decrease the incidence of sepsis (VLBW:RR=0.21, 95%CI 0.07 to 0.64，P=0.006); Compared with the indometacin groups, ibuprofen could decrease the incidence of the increase of serum creatinine (LBWI:RR=0.11, 95%CI 0.04 to 0.37, P=0.000 2), NEC (LBWI, RR=0.52, 95%CI 0.29 to 0.95, P=0.03) and oliguria (LBWI: RR=0.30, 95%CI 0.16 to 0.56, P=0.000 2; VLBW:RR=1.40, 95%CI 1.03 to 1.92, P=0.03); Compared with the intravenous ibuprofen, Oral ibuprofen could increase the closure rate of PDA (VLBW: RR=1.35, 95%CI 1.12 to 1.62, P=0.002; ELBWI, RR=1.42, 95%CI 1.07 to 1.87, P=0.01). ConclusionCurrent evidence shows that there is not indeterminate between ibuprofen and paracetamol groups. Compared with other general drugs, ibuprofen has an advantage over curing PDA and obviously reduces side effects. Due to the limited quality and quantity of included studies, more high quality studies are needed to verify the above conclusion.