Objective To evaluate the efficacy and safety of dezocine versus sufentanil for postoperative patient-controlled epidural analgesia (PCEA).Methods PubMed,EMBASE,Cochrane Library,ISI Web of knowledge,Chinese Biomedical Database,Chinese Science-Technology Journal Database,China Journal Full-text Database and Wanfang Database were searched for randomized controlled trials involving the efficacy and safety of dezocine and sufentanil for PCEA from the date of database establishment up to April 2014.Randomized controlled trials met the inclusion criteria were included,and the data were extracted.The quality of the trials was evaluated according to Cochrane Handbook 5.1.0 criteria.Meta-analysis was conducted using RevMan 5.1 software.Results Seven studies involving 760 patients were included in this meta-analysis.The results of meta-analyses showed that there was no significant difference between dezocine group and sufentanil group in VAS scores at 4,8,12,16,24 and 48 h after surgery and in Ramsay sedation scores at 4,12,24 and 48 h after surgery,and the incidence of adverse reactions (postoperative nausea and vomiting,pruritus,urinary retention and somnolence) was significantly lower in dezocine group than in sufentanil group,and there was no significant difference in the incidence of respiratory depression and dizziness between dezocine group and sufentanil group.Conclusion Dezocine provides better efficacy and safety for postoperative PCEA than sufentanil.