Background:Remote ischemic postconditioning (RIPostC) appears to protect distant organs from ischemia-reperfusion injury (IRI).However,cerebral protection results have remained inconclusive.In the present study,a meta-analysis was performed to compare stroke patients with and without RIPostC.Methods:CNKI,WanFang,VIP,CBM,PubMed,and Cochrane Library databases were searched up to July 2016.Data were analyzed using both fixed-effects and random-effects models by Review Manager.For each outcome,risk ratio (RR) and mean difference (MD)with 95％ confidence interval (CI) were calculated.Results:A total of 13 randomized controlled trials that enrolled a total of 794 study participants who suffered from or are at risk for brain IRI were selected.Compared with controls,RIPostC significantly reduced the recurrence of stroke or transient ischemic attacks (RR =0.37;95％ CI:0.26-0.55;P ＜ 0.00001).Moreover,it can reduce the levels of the National Institutes of Health Stroke Scale score (MD:1.96;95％ CI:2.18-1.75;P ＜ 0.00001),modified Rankin Scale score (MD:0.73;95％ CI:1.20-0.25;P =0.00300),and high-sensitivity C-reactive protein (MD:4.17;95％ CI:4.71-3.62;P ＜ 0.00001) between the two groups.There was no side effect of RIPostC using toiquet cuff around the limb on ischemic stroke treating based on different intervention duration.Conclusion:The present meta-analysis suggests that RIPostC might offer cerebral protection for stroke patients suffering from or are at risk of brain IRI.