ObjectiveTo systematically review the efficacy and safety of laryngeal mask versus endotracheal tubes for laparoscopic surgery.MethodsPubMed, EMbase, The Cochrane Library, CNKI, WanFang Data and CBM databases were electronically searched to collect the randomized controlled trials (RCTs) about the efficacy and safety of laryngeal mask versus endotracheal tubes for laparoscopic surgery from inception to April, 2017. Two reviewers independently screened literature, extracted data and assessed the risk of bias of included studies. Then meta-analysis was performed by using RevMan 5.3 software.ResultsA total of 16 RCTs involving 1 593 patients were included. The results of meta-analysis showed that: there was no significant difference in the success rate of the first insertion (RR=0.99, 95%CI 0.96 to 1.02, P=0.55). The airway pressure of patients whose position were head higher than foot was significantly lower in the laryngeal mask group than in the tracheal intubation group (MD=–1.20, 95%CI –1.81 to –0.59, P=0.000 1), but there was no significant difference between two groups in reverse position patients (MD=0.48, 95%CI –0.90 to 1.87, P=0.49). The incidence of sore throat (RR=0.58, 95%CI 0.46 to 0.74, P<0.000 01), the incidence of blood stain (RR=0.48, 95%CI 0.30 to 0.77, P=0.002), the incidence of laryngeal spasm/bronchial spasm (OR=0.30, 95%CI 0.11 to 0.80, P=0.02) and the incidence of cough/hiccup (RR=0.10, 95%CI 0.07 to 0.15, P<0.000 01) in the laryngeal mask group were significantly lower than those in the tracheal intubation group.ConclusionThe current evidence shows that compared with tracheal intubation, laryngeal mask can effectively reduce airway pressure of patients whose position are head higher than foot. The risks of various complications are significant higher in tracheal intubation in laparoscopic surgery. Laryngeal mask can maintain patients' normal respiratory functions while reduce damage and do not increase the occurrence of reflux aspiration. Due to limited quantity and quality of the included studies, more high quality studies are needed to verify above conclusion.