Background Sufentanil is one of the opioids currently used to induce general anesthesia, and cough is one of the most common complications. Many drugs have been used to prevent sufentanil-induced cough (SIC), and dezocine is one of them. Dezocine is an analgesic, acting as partial antagonist of kappa-receptors and agonist of mu-receptors. The purpose of our meta-analysis is to evaluate the efficacy of dezocine on SIC. Methods We searched multiple databases including PubMed, Embase, ScienceDirect, the Cochrane Library, and China National Knowledge Infrastructure databases (CNKI) to identify studies that met the inclusion criteria. This meta-analysis focused on the incidence and severity of SIC after dezocine intervention, as well as adverse effects. This meta-analysis was registered on PROSPERO with reference number ID: CRD 42020144943. Results Five randomised controlled trials (RCTs) were identified, including 890 patients. Each study was a comparison of dezocine with an equal volume of 0.9% saline. When the injection dose of dezocine was 0.1 mg/kg, the incidence (pooled risk ratio (RR) = 0.03, [95% CI: 0.02 to 0.07],P < 0.00001,I-2 = 0%) and severity (mild: RR = 0.07, [95% CI: 0.03 to 0.18], P < 0.00001,I-2 = 0%; moderate: RR = 0.05, [95% CI: 0.02 to 0.16], P < 0.00001,I-2 = 0%; severe: RR = 0.04, [95% CI: 0.01 to 0.16], P < 0.00001,I-2 = 0%) of SIC were significantly decreased. There were no statistically significant differences in vital signs between the two groups based on the results of the pooled analysis. Conclusion This meta-analysis showed that dezocine significantly reduced the incidence and severity of SIC in the induction of general anesthesia, but had no significant effect on vital signs. More high-quality RCTs are needed to complement existing conclusions.