Objective: To assess the efficacy and safety of local anaesthetics for premature ejaculation(PE),a systematic review of the literature was performed using the Cochrane Library,PubMed and EMBASE.Methods: We screened and retrieved the randomised controlled trials on the treatment of PE with local anaesthetics.End points included intravaginal ejaculation latency time(IELT),patient-reported outcome assessments and adverse events.Meta-analyses were conducted with STATA 11.0.Results: In total,seven publications involving 566 patients with local anaesthetics and 388 with placebos strictly met our eligibility criteria.Meta-analyses showed that after the patients were treated with the local anaesthetics,the value of the standardised mean difference of the changes in IELT was 5.02(95%CI: 3.03-7.00).A higher rate of adverse events occurred compared with placebos(odds ratio =3.30;95%CI: 1.71-6.36),but these events were restricted to local side effects.In addition,significantly greater improvement was observed in patient-reported outcomes.Conclusions: In summary,local anaesthetics can prolong IELT and improve ejaculatory control and sexual satisfaction.