Objective To evaluate the efficacy of intermittent pneumatic compression or sequential compression device in prevention of deep venous thrombosis in long-term bedridden patients.Methods We searched Pubmed (1996~),The Cochrane Library (1997~),CLNAHL (1980~),CNKI (1994~),EM-BASE,Science Direct,Oxford Journals,Wanfang Data(1998 ~),and randomized controlled trials (RCTs) in which IPC or SCD was used as an intervention to prevent DVT,and all the trials were published in English or Chinese.The methodological quality of the included studies was assessed according to the standard of Cochrane systematic review.RevMan 5.0 software was used for Meta-analysis.Results Seven RCTs were included.The results of Meta-analysis showed that the incidence of DVT in the IPC or SCD group was lower than that in the control group.Conclusions IPC or SCD shows an effective tendency in DVT prevention,but because of the low quality and the small sample of the included studies,this conclusion needs to be verified by protocols of more samples and higher quality. Key words: Intermittent pneumatic compression; Bedridden; Immobile patient; Deep venous thrombosis; Randomized controlled trial