Abstract:Abstract: Objective A systematic review and Meta-analysis was conducted to compare the effectiveness and safety of Endoscopic transgastric (ETA) versus surgical approach (SA) in infected necrotising pancreatitis (INP). Methods Pubmed, Embas, Cochrane Library, Web of Science, CBM, CNKI, CQVIP and WanFang data were systematically searched for eligible studies that compared ETA with SA for INP. The search was limited to papers published from January 2000 to March 2018. Study selection was performed according to predefined criteria. the quality of included studies was evaluated , then the Meta-analysis was conducted using RevMan 5.3 software. Results Eventually, 2 RCTS and 4 retrospective cohort studies including a total of 295 patients were identified. The results of the Meta-analysis for ETA versus SA showed: There were no significant difference regarding the clinical resolution rate [(62/79, 78.5%) vs (37/66, 56.1%), P > 0.05]. The mortality (OR = 0.12, 95% CI: 0.03 ~ 0.42, P < 0.05), complication rate (OR = 0.13, 95% CI: 0.06 ~ 0.29, P < 0.05), new onset organ failure rate (OR = 0.26, 95%CI: 0.12 ~ 0.54, P < 0.05), postoperative pancreatic fistula rate (OR = 0.09, 95%CI: 0.03 ~ 0.28, P < 0.05) and incisional hernia rate (OR = 0.10, 95%CI: 0.01 ~ 0.85, P < 0.05) were lower in the ETA group. Furthermore, there was a shorter hospital stay (MD = -17.72, 95% CI: -21.30 ~ -14.13, P < 0.05) in the ETA group. No differences were observed in terms of the postoperative bleeding (OR = 0.76, 95% CI: 0.36 ~ 1.61, P > 0.05) and perforation of a visceral organ (OR = 0.56, 95%CI: 0.25 ~ 1.23, P > 0.05). Conclusion ETA for the treatment of INP is safe and feasible with lower mortality, lower rate of postoperative complications and shorter hospital stay. ETA should be recommended as a preferred treatment for INP.