OBJECTIVE To evaluate the efficacy and safety of intranasal corticosteroids （INCS） combined with oral H1- antihistamine （AH） in the treatment of allergic rhinitis. METHODS A comprehensive literature search was conducted in PubMed， Embase， CNKI， and VIP database to collect randomized controlled trial （RCT） that INCS combined with AH （experimental group） versus INCS （control group） in the treatment of allergic rhinitis from the inception to December 31， 2024. After study selection， data extraction， and quality assessment， a meta-analysis was performed by using RevMan 5.3 software. RESULTS A total of 12 RCTs were included in the meta-analysis， with a total of 1 842 patients. Results of meta-analysis showed that， compared with the control group， patients in the experimental group had a greater reduction in sneezing scores， rhinorrhea scores， nasal congestion scores， nasal itching scores， total nasal symptom scores， total ocular symptom scores， and rhinoconjunctivitis quality of life questionnaire scores （P＜0.05）. The incidence of headache was lower in the experimental group （P＜0.05）； whereas there were no significant differences between the two groups in the incidence of nosebleed， dryness of the mouth and nose， drowsiness， fatigue， and total adverse events （P＞0.05）. CONCLUSIONS Compared with INCS monotherapy， the combination of INCS and oral AH provides superior efficacy and safety in the treatment of allergic rhinitis.