Objective To systematically evaluate the differences in efficacy and safety between laser combined with intravitreal ranibizumab and intravitreal ranibizumab alone in the treatment of branch retinal vein occlusion (BRVO) with secondary macular edema. Methods Data was collected about randomized controlled trial for the treatment of BRVO with secondary macular edema via a search conducted in PubMed, CNKI, Wanfang and other databases, time being set from their establishment to May 2019. A meta-analysis was performed of the included studies using RevMan 5.3 statistics. Results A total of 12 studies were included with 1081 patients. Compared with intravitreal ranibizumab alone, the combination of laser with intravitreal ranibizumab was able to effectively reduce the central macular retinal thickness (CMT) [95%CI(-135.44--15.54), P<0.001] on the followed-up visits at 1,3 and 6 months; but there was no statistically significant difference in the improvement of best corrected visual acuity (BCVA) [95%CI (-1.75-0.80), P>0.05] and in the incidence of adverse reactions between the two groups [OR=1.50,95%CI (0.97-2.30), P=0.07]. Conclusion Laser combined with intravitreal ranibizumab can significantly reduce the CMT in BRVO patients with secondary macular edema, with better early efficacy than intravitreal ranibizumab alone. However, the effects of the two methods on BCVA after treatment and the occurrence of adverse reactions is yet to be verified by a large number of randomized double-blind controlled studies.