ObjectivesTo systematically review the efficacy of adjuvant growth hormone (GH) in IVF protocols.MethodsCBM, WanFang Data, CNKI, VIP, PubMed, EMbase, Web of Science and The Cochrane Library databases were electronically searched to collect randomized controlled trials (RCTs) on the efficacy of adjuvant GH in IVF protocols from inception to October 2019. Two reviewers independently screened literature, extracted data and assessed the risk of bias of included studies, then, the meta-analysis was performed by using RevMan 5.3 software.ResultsA total of 10 RCTs involving 691 infertile females were included. Results of meta-analysis demonstrated that adjuvant GH in IVF protocols could increase collected oocytes number (MD=1.58, 95%CI 1.29 to 1.87, P<0.000 01), MⅡ stage oocytes number (MD=2.26, 95%CI 1.77 to 2.74, P<0.000 01), implantation rate (RR=1.20, 95%CI 1.02 to 1.40, P=0.03), clinical pregnancy rate (RR=1.46, 95%CI 1.08 to 1.98, P=0.01) and live birth rate (RR=1.62, 95%CI 1.05 to 2.51, P=0.03). However, there was no difference in fertilization rate (RR=1.06, 95%CI 0.97 to 1.16, P<0.18), miscarriage rate (RR=1.44, 95%CI 0.65 to 3.17, P=0.37) and adverse reactions between two groups.ConclusionsCurrent evidence shows that GH can improve the fertility outcomes of IVF cycles in patients with POR, elderly or previous IVF failures. But due to limited quality and quantity of the included studies, more high-quality studies are required to verify the above conclusion.