Abstract: ObjectiveTo evaluate the efficacy of pentoxifylline and corticosteroid in treatment of patients with severe alcoholic hepatitis(SAH). MethodsPubMed， Embase， Ovid， Cochrane Library， CNKI， WANFANG and VIP were searched to collect randomized controlled trials （RCTs）  of pentoxifylline and corticosteroid in treatment of patients with severe alcoholic hepatitis， the published time was up to before April， 2016. The retrieved studies were selected according to the predefined inclusion and exclusion criteria，  the quality of included studies were evaluated and metaanalysis was performed using the Cochrane Collaboration's RevMan 5.3 software. ResultsSeven RCTs out of 726 papers involving 998 patients with severe alcoholic hepatitis were included. Two drugs showed no significant difference in decreasing SAH early (P=0.58) and midterm mortality (P=0.19) and the incidence of hepatorenal syndrome (P=0.33) and gastrointestinal bleeding (P=0.75)，while the pentoxifylline  significantly reduced the incidence of infection (P=0.001). ConclusionPentoxifylline and corticosteroids have no significant difference in treatment of SAH，but facing the case of coinfection is recommended to use pentoxifylline. 

Key words: hepatitis, alcoholic；pentoxifylline；corticosteroid；Metaanalysis