Ｏｂｊｅｃｔｉｖｅ　To systematically evaluate the efficacy and safety of injected dezocine and fentanyl for postoperative pain.　Methods　Data was electronically searched in the PubMed， Embase， CNKI， VIP and Wanfang Data databases from the library literature start-stop time until June 2013 to identify randomization controlled clinical trial （RCT） about dezocine and fentanyl for postoperative patient-comtrolled intravenous analgesia. The methodological qualities of included RCTs were assessed. The RCTs were evaluated using the RevMan5.2 software.　Results　Thirteen RCTs involving 1 090 patients met the inclusion criteria. The results of meta-analyses showed that： ① Efficacy： the VAS scores were significantly lower within postoperative 2 h and 24 h in the dezocine group than those in the fentanyl group {standardized mean difference（SMD） ［95% confidence interval （CI） were 0.17 （-0.25，-0.09），-0.08（-0.13，-0.03）， respectively］}（P<0.05）. The Ramsay scores at 4 h were significantly lower in the dezocine group than those in the fentanyl group ［SMD（95% CI）was -0.25（-0.34，-0.15）］（P<0.05）. However， there were no significant differences with the visual analogue interval（VAS） at l， 4，12 h or 48 h. ② Safety： the incidence of nausea and vomiting， respiratory depression， lethargy， pruritus and urinary retention were significantly lower in the dezocine group than those in the fentanyl group ［odds ratio（OR）（95% CI） were 0.26（0.17，0.39）， 0.11（0.03，0.34）， 0.28（0.06，0.50）， 0.14 （0.05，0.34），0.29（0.16，0.54）， respectively］（P<0.05）.　Conclusions　The available clinical data indicate that postoperative use of dezocine and fentanyl can reduce postoperative pain significantly， and dezocine could reduce the incidence of adverse reactions significantly.