ObjectiveTo compare clinical efficacy of single-incision laparoscopic surgery (SILS) and conventional laparoscopic surgery (CLS) in treatment of colorectal cancer.MethodsThe Pubmed, Embase, Cochrane library, CBM, CNKI, VIP, and Wanfang Data were searched to collect the comparative study of the SILS and CLS in the treatment of colorectal cancer. The data were extracted and evaluated by the RevMan 5.3 software.ResultsEventually, 13 articles were included, including 3 randomized controlled trials and 10 case-control studies with a total of 1 466 patients. The meta-analysis results suggested that the SILS could shorten the postoperative hospital stay [MD=–0.63, 95% CI (–1.10, –0.16), P=0.009] and time to the first flatus [MD=–0.23, 95% CI (–0.33, –0.13), P<0.000 01] and the lymph node dissection was relatively completed [MD=0.77, 95% CI (0.05, 1.48), P=0.04] as compared with the CLS. In the total complications of surgery [OR=0.73, 95% CI (0.51, 1.03), P=0.08], operation time [MD=–0.33, 95% CI (–11.36, 10.69), P=0.95], intraoperative blood loss [MD=5.61, 95% CI (–4.20, 15.43), P=0.26], conversion to laparotomy [OR=1.06, 95% CI (0.18, 6.13), P=0.95], distance between tumor and proximal margin [MD=0.11, 95% CI (–0.48, 0.69), P=0.71], distance between tumor and distal margin [MD=0.32, 95% CI (–0.23, 0.87), P=0.25] had no statistically significant differences between the SILS and CLS.ConclusionsSILS is safe and effective for radical resection of colorectal cancer. However, results of study still need to be validated by a randomized controlled trial with a large sample designed strictly.