Objective To evaluate the efficacy of glucose-insul in-potassium (GIK) in patients with acute myocardialinfarction (AMI). Methods Both foreign language databases including The Cochrane Library (issue 4, 2007), PubMed, EMBASE and Chinese databases involving CBM, VIP and CJFD were searched to identify randomized controlled trials (RCTs) that reported the effect of GIK on the heart function (left ventricular ejection fraction LVEF, ST changes, left ventricular remodel ing) of patients with AMI. Two reviewers assessed the qual ity of each trial and extracted data independently. The Cochrane Collaboration’s RevMan 4.2.10 software was used for statistical analysis. Results Five RCTs were included, all of which came from abroad. The methodological qual ity of the included studies was good. The basel ine data of each trial were comparable. Meta-analyses showed that no significant difference was observed in the improvement of LVEF between the GIK group and the control group (WMD=1.87, 95%CI -0.32 to 4.06, P =0.09), whereas GIK was more beneficial in decreasing ST (OR=1.92, 95%CI 1.25 to 2.96,P =0.003) and preventing left ventricular remodel ing (OR=0.08, 95%CI 0.01 to 0.68, P=0.02). Conclusion Based on the above evidence, although GIK may, to some extent, be beneficial for both ST decreasing and long-term prognoses in patients with AMI, it can not yet be concluded that GIK can improve the heart function of those patients. Therefore, it is imperative to design and implement further stricter, large-scale RCTs, so as to accurately identify the therapeutic effect of GIK solution in patients with myocardial infarction.