Objective To systematically review the effect of inspiratory muscle training (IMT) on postoperative clinical outcomes among esophageal cancer patients. Methods The PubMed, EMbase, Web of Science, The Cochrane Library, CNKI, WanFang Data and VIP databases were searched from inception to January 16th, 2022 for randomized controlled trials (RCTs) and cohort studies on the clinical application of IMT among postoperative esophageal cancer patients. Two reviewers independently screened the literature, extracted data, and assessed the risk of bias of the included studies. Meta-analysis was then performed using RevMan 5.4 software. Results Eight studies were included, including 7 RCTs and 1 cohort study, involving 728 participants. The results of the meta-analysis demonstrated that IMT significantly enhanced postoperative respiratory muscle function [maximum inspiratory pressure (MIP): MD=5.75, 95%CI 0.81 to 10.70, P=0.02; maximum expiratory pressure (MEP): MD=8.19, 95%CI 4.14 to 12.24, P<0.001] and pulmonary function (FEV1%: MD=6.94, 95%CI 5.43 to 8.45, P<0.001; FVC%: MD=4.65, 95%CI 2.70 to 6.60, P<0.001; MVV: MD=8.66, 95%CI 7.17 50 10.14, P<0.001; FEV1/FVC%: MD=8.04, 95%CI 4.68 to 11.40, P<0.001). Additionally, the results indicated that IMT could substantially improve postoperative functional performance [six-minute walk test (6MWT): MD=66.99, 95%CI 10.13 to 123.85, P=0.02; Borg index: MD=−1.03, 95%CI −1.26 to −0.81, P<0.001]. However, no significant reduction in the incidence of postoperative complications was observed. Conclusion IMT can improve the postoperative clinical outcomes of esophageal cancer patients and facilitate patient recovery after surgery, which has high clinical value. Due to the limited quantity and quality of the included studies, more high-quality studies are needed to verify the above conclusion.