Objective To assess the curative effect and safety of sodium valproate and diazepam on status epilepticus (SE).Methods Inclusion and exclusion criteria was established according to the criteria recommended by the Cochrane Handbook for Systematic Reviews. The database of the Coehrane Library, Medline, Emhase, CBMdisc, CNKl and so on were searched by a computer to collect randomized controlled trials and quasi-randomized controlled trials of sodium valproate and diazepam for patients with SE. The quality of all the trails was assessed according to the criteria recommended and the datas were extracted independently from all the trails by three reviewers. Meta-analysis was performed by RevMan 5.1 software.Results Nine articles involving 400 patients with SE were gotten. The incidence of SE control in the sodium valproate group was similar to that in the diazepam group [RR=1.03, 95%CI(0.91, 1.16), P=0.65]. The incidence of SE recur in the sodium valproate group was significantly lower than that in the diazepam group [RR=0.41, 95%CI (0.22, 0.79), P=0.07]. The incidence of adverse drug reaction in sodium valproate group was significantly lower than that in the diazepam group[RR=0.17, 95%CI (0.08, 0.34), P<0.0001].Conclusions By sodium valproate treatment in the patients with SE, the incidence of SE control was similar to diazepam treatment, but the SE recur and adverse drug reaction can be significantly reduced.