ObjectiveTo systematically review the effectiveness and safety of laparoscopic total mesorectal excision(LTME) vs. open total mesorectal excision (OTME) in treating rectal cancer. MethodsRandomized controlled trials (RCTs) about LTME vs. OTME for rectal cancer were searched in PubMed, The Cochrane Library (Issue 4, 2014), EMbase, CNKI, CBM and WanFang Data from the date of their establishment to April 2014. Other relevant journals and references of included studies were also searched manually. Two reviewers independently screened literature according to the inclusion and exclusion criteria, extracted data and assessed methodological quality of included studies. Meta-analysis was then conducted using RevMan 5.2. ResultsA total of fifteen RCTs involving 2 268 patients were enrolled. The results of meta-analysis indicated that:a) for effectiveness, LTME and OTME were alike in resection length of the intestine (MD=-0.52, 95%CI-1.29 to 0.25, P=0.18), dissection number of lymph nodes (MD=-0.11, 95%CI-0.75 to 0.52, P=0.73), 1-year survival rate (RR=0.99, 95%CI 0.96 to 1.02, P=0.52), and 3-year survival rate (RR=0.99, 95%CI 0.93 to 1.04, P=0.63) with no significant difference. For safety, LTME had longer operation time (MD=29.64, 95%CI 14.90 to 44.39, P < 0.000 1); caused less intra-operative bleeding (MD=-105.51, 95%CI-133.95 to-77.08, P < 0.000 01); and shortened post-operative anal exsufflation time (MD=-0.99, 95%CI-1.35 to-0.62, P < 0.000 01), catheterization time (MD=-2.02, 95%CI-2.20 to-1.83, P < 0.000 01) as well as hospital stay (MD=-3.47, 95%CI-4.20 to-2.74, P < 0.000 01). Besides, LTME had less postoperative complications such as anastomotic leak (RR=0.67, 95%CI 0.37 to 1.22, P=0.19) and wound infection (RR=0.43, 95%CI 0.26 to 0.73, P=0.002). However, LTME and OTME were alike in the incidence of intestinal obstruction (RR=0.53, 95%CI 0.28 to 1.00, P=0.05). ConclusionCurrent evidence indicates that LTME and OTME are alike in effectiveness, but LTME could cause less bleeding, shorten time of catheterization, post-operative anal exsufflation and hospital stay with less post-operative complications. Due to the limited quantity and quality of the included studies, more larger sample, multicenter, high quality RCTs are needed to verify the above conclusion.