Objective This paper presents a systematic review and meta-analysis of acupuncture combined general anesthesia. Methods Systematic literature searches of 7 electronic databases were performed from inception to December 2013 by two investigators. We included randomized controlled trials that evaluated the effects of acupuncture compared with a control（routine procedure） or a sham intervention in patients undergoing general anesthesia. Two reviewers selected eligible studies and evaluated the risk of bias and the quality of the acupuncture intervention. Information on methods， participants， interventions， and outcomes was extracted. The total consumption of anesthetics during surgery was selected as the primary index. Meta-analysis of heart rate， mean arterial pressure and anesthetic recovery time was performed using random or fixed effects modeling. Results Twelve trials that included 979 patients who received general anesthesia met the inclusion criteria. Results of pooled analyses indicated that compared with general anesthesia alone， acupuncture assistance significantly reduced the total dose of anesthetics needed（mean difference [95% CI]， propofol（mg）， -59. 29 [-91. 92， -26. 67]， inhalational anesthetic（MAC）-2. 34[-3. 60， -1. 09] and the anesthetic recovery time（min）-4. 31[-4. 52， -4. 10]， while no significant difference on heart rate and mean arterial pressure. Conclusion Compared with routine general anesthesia alone， acupuncture assistance reduces the dose of anesthetics and shortens anesthetic recovery time， shows no effect on heart rate and mean arterial pressure.