Objective To evaluate the efficacy of statins pretreatment in patients before percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI). Methods Published literature on relevant randomized controlled trials (RCTs) were retrieved via electronic and handsearch in databases CNKI, CBM, MEDLINE and The Cochrane Library from January 1990 to May 2011. The references of these articles were also retrieved. Two reviewers independently identified articles according to the inclusion and exclusion criteria, extracted the data, assess the quality of the included studies, and then conducted meta-analysis using RevMan 5.0 software. Results A total of 10 trials involving 3 012 patients were included. The results of meta-analyses showed that: during the periprocedural period, the trial group had a lower incidence than the control group (98 of 1 514 cases, incidence 6.5%) in periprocedural myocardial infarction with a significant difference (OR=0.43, 95% CI 0.34 to 0.56, Plt;0.000 01). The composite of death, myocardial infarction, or target vessel revascularization in one month, essentially driven by periprocedural myocardial infarction, was reported 6.8% in the trial group and 15.1% in the control group (OR=0.41, 95% CI 0.32 to 0.53, Plt;0.000 01). Conclusion Current evidence supports the effectiveness of statin pretreatment used to reducing the rate of periprocedural myocardial infarction in patients before receiving PCI.