Objective: To investigate the clinical efficacy of laparoscopic spleen-preserving distal pancreatectomy in treatment of tumors of the body and tail of the pancreas. Methods: By searching several English and Chinese databases, the eligible studies were selected through a screening process against defined inclusion and exclusion criteria. After data extraction and quality evaluation, Meta-analysis was performed by Manager 5.3 software. Results: Thirty studies were included involving 814 patients, of whom, 399 cases underwent laparoscopic distal pancreatectomy with spleen preservation and 415 cases underwent laparoscopic distal pancreatectomy with splenectomy. Results of the Meta-analysis showed that in patients undergoing laparoscopic spleen-preserving distal pancreatectomy compared with those undergoing laparoscopic distal pancreatectomy with splenectomy, the operative time (SMD=–0.79, 95% CI=–1.55––0.03, P=0.04), intraoperative blood loss (SMD=–1.00, 95% CI=–1.76––0.24, P=0.01) and length of hospital stay (SMD=–0.77, 95% CI=–1.34––0.21, P=0.008) were significantly reduced; no statistical differences were noted in the incidence of postoperative complications (OR=0.83, 95% CI=0.63–1.10, P=0.19) and reoperation rate (OR=1.54, 95% CI=0.52–4.59, P=0.44) between the two groups of patients. Conclusion: Laparoscopic spleen-preserving distal pancreatectomy has better clinical efficacy in treatment of tumors of the body and tail of the pancreas without increasing the incidence of postoperative complications.