Objective To evaluate the clinical application of the different operative approaches of the laparoscopicrepair of inguinal hernia and provide a more rational and scientific choice for the surgeon. Methods The strict inclusion and exclusion criteria were set up. All the randomized controlled trials （RCT） about laparoscopic transabdominal preperi-toneal （TAPP） and totally extraperitoneal （TEP） approaches of laparoscopic inguinal hernia repair were collected. Meta an-alysis was performed according to the recommendation by the Cochrane handbook. Results Seven RCTs including 552 patients were analyzed， who were divided into TAPP group （n=302） and TEP group （n=250）. Compared with TAPP group， there were no significant differences of the operation time〔WMD=8.49， 95% CI （-1.37， 18.35）， P=0.09〕， postoperative hospitalization〔SMD=0.11， 95% CI （-0.12， 0.34）， P=0.34〕， postoperative recurrence rate 〔OR=1.37， 95% CI （0.36， 5.20）， P=0.64〕， and complications （incision infection， urinary retention） 〔Incision infection：OR=4.27， 95% CI （0.85， 21.57）， P=0.08；Urinary retention：OR=0.61， 95% CI （0.21， 1.78）， P=0.36〕in the TEP group. But the postoperative 24 h pain in the TEP group was significantly milder than that in the TAPP group 〔WMD=0.72， 95% CI （0.58， 0.87）， P＜0.000 01〕. Conclusions The currently available evidence shows that postoperative 24 h pain in the TEP group is more milder than that in the TAPP group. The time of the operation， postoperative hospitalization， postoperative recurrence， and complications are no significant differences between TAPP group and TEP group. Large-scale， high-quality RCTs are still needed to confirm or refuse the available evidence.