Objective To evaluate the efficacy and safety of COX inhibitor flurbiprofen axetil in relieving propofol injection pain and preemptive analgesia after general anesthesia. Methods Databases such as PubMed, CBM, Springer, Ovid, CNKI and ISI were searched to identify randomized controlled trials (RCTs) about flurbiprofen axetil in relieving propofol injection pain and preemptive analgesia after general anesthesia published from 2000 to 2010. The methodological quality of the included RCTs was assessed and the data were extracted according to the Cochrane Handbook 5.0.1. Meta-analysis was performed by using RevMan 4.2.10 software. Results A total of 15 RCTs involving 1 425 patients were included. The results of meta-analyses showed that: a) Relieving propofol injection pain: Compared with the placebo group, flurbiprofen axetil could prevent the propofol injection pain (RR=3.13, 95%CI 1.08 to 9.11, P=0.04), and relieve the moderate and severe pain in injecting propofol (RR=0.57, 95%CI 0.40 to 0.81, P=0.002; RR=0.14, 95%CI 0.05 to 0.34, Plt;0.000 1, respectively), but there were no significant differences in relieving mild pain between the two groups; b) Preemptive analgesia: the visual analog scale (VAS) of post-operation at 2-hour (WMD= –2.25, 95%CI –4.20 to –0.29, P=0.02), 4-hour (WMD= –1.99, 95%CI –3.19 to –0.79, P=0.001), 8-hour (WMD= –1.39, 95%CI –1.86 to –0.93, Plt;0.000 01) and 12-hour (WMD= –2.70, 95%CI –4.73 to –0.68, P=0.009) was decreased when flurbiprofen axetil was injected before the operation, but there were no significant differences in VAS of post-operation at 48-hour between the two groups. When flurbiprofen axetil was injected at the end of the operation, VAS of post-operation at 12-hour (WMD= –0.94, 95%CI –1.73 to –0.16, P=0.02) was decreased, but there were no significant differences in VAS of post-operation at 24-hour between the two groups; flurbiprofen axetil could lessen the need for opioid analgesics (RR=0.47, 95%CI 0.27 to 0.82, P=0.008); and c) Safety: there were no significant differences in postoperative nausea, vomit and somnolence between the two groups. Conclusion Flurbiprofen axetil can significantly prevent or relieve the propofol injection pain; flurbiprofen axetil injected before operation can relieve post-operative pain at 2-, 4-, 8- and 12-hour; flurbiprofen axetil injected at the end of the operation can relieve post-operative pain at 12-hour. Yet more RCTs are required to discuss its effects on nausea, vomit and somnolence.