ObjectivesTo systematically review the safety and efficacy of autologous bone marrow mesenchymal stem cells (BMSCs) transplantation for spinal cord injury (SCI) patients.MethodsPubMed, The Cochrane Library, EMbase, CNKI, CBM, WanFang Data and VIP databases were electronically searched to collect randomized controlled trials (RCTs) and clinical controlled trials (CCTs) of autologous BMSCs transplantation for SCI patients from inception to June 8th, 2017. Two reviewers independently screened literature, extracted data and assessed risk of bias of included studies. Meta-analysis was then performed using RevMan 5.3 software.ResultsA total of 16 studies involving 954 SCI patients were included. The results of meta-analysis showed that: BMSCs could significantly increase the patients’ ASIA motor score (MD=6.91, 95%CI 3.95 to 9.87, P<0.000 01), ASIA light-tough score (MD=11.79, 95%CI 6.66 to 16.39,P<0.000 01), ASIA pain score (MD=8.76, 95%CI 4.11 to 13.40,P=0.000 2), Barthel index score (MD=8.47, 95%CI 7.32 to 9.61, P<0.000 01). It could also improve the ASIA grade (OR=3.75, 95%CI 2.35 to 5.99,P<0.01), and decrease the bladder urine residue (MD=–23.32, 95%CI –46.27 to –0.37,P=0.05). The complications mainly included headache, low-grade fever, and so forth. No serious adverse event and abnormal tissue formation occurred.ConclusionAutologous BMSCs transplantation is a safe and effective therapy for SCI. Due to limited quality and quantity of the included studies, more high quality studies are required to verify the above conclusion.