Abstract: Purpose To systematically evaluate the influence of higher order aberrations between laser in-situ keratomileusis （LASIK） and laser epithelial keratomileusis （LASEK）. Methods Searches were conducted in databases such as PubMed, Cochrane library, EMBASE, CBM, CNKI, Wanfang Data and VIP to collect relevant clinical controlled researches about the influence of LASIK versus LASEK on higher order aberrations. The literature screening, data extraction and literature quality assessment were conducted by two researchers independently according to the inclusion and exclusion criteria and the MINORS was used for literature quality assessment. Final meta-analysis was performed by RevMan 5.3 software. Results The meta-analysis included 10 non-randomized controlled trials （non-RCT） involving 593 patients in all, among which the LASIK group had 286 cases and the LASEK group had 307 cases. The influences of total higher order aberration, coma, horizontal coma, trefoilin postoperative 1 month, 3 months and 6 months and sphere aberrationin postoperative 1 month and 3 months and vertical comain postoperative3 months and 6 months and the fifth order aberrationin postoperative 3 months between LASIK and LASEK were not found statistical difference（P>0.05）. LASEK showed greater influence on sphere aberration than LASIK in postoperative 6 monthsSMD=0.17,95%CI（0.00,0.33）, P=0.04. LASEK had less influence than LASIK on the vertical coma in postoperative 1 monthSMD=-0.35,95%CI（-0.57,-0.13）,P=0.002. LASEK displayed greater influence than LASIK on the fifth order aberration in postoperative 1 monthSMD=0.43,95%CI（0.17,0.69）,P=0.001 and on the sixth order aberration in postoperative 1 month and 3 months1 month SMD=0.52,95%CI（0.26,0.78）,P<0.001; 3 months SMD=0.52, 95%CI（0.26,0.78）, P<0.000 1. Conclusions On the whole, the influence on higher order aberrations between LASIK and LASEK, within postoperative 6 months, has no significant difference. However, LASEK has an increasing influence on higher order aberrations with the follow-up time extended, and in postoperative 6 month,LASEK shows a greater influence on sphere aberration than LASIK.