BACKGROUND: Patients with duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD) have an increased risk of complications when they undergo sedation or general anesthesia. However, due to improvements in cardiopulmonary therapies during anesthetic care, patients with DMD are experiencing an unprecedented duration of survival. We performed a systematic analysis to assess the benefits and risks of pharmacological interventions for the management of anesthesia and sedation in DMD patients. METHODS: We included any type of study reporting any drug intervention to manage anesthesia and sedation in participants previously diagnosed with DMD. Our primary outcomes were the onset time, recovery time, and neurodevelopmental disabilities. Seven electronic databases and three clinical trial registry platforms were searched. Data from the eligible studies were combined to calculate pooled risk ratios or standardized mean differences, and some included studies are presented in a narrative synthesis. RESULTS: Forty studies with 196 DMD participants were included in the analysis. Compared with those of the control group, the sensitivity of patients with DMD to neuromuscular blocking agents (NMBAs) may have resulted in a prolonged onset time [MD = -0.96, 95% CI (0.71, 2.60), CONCLUSIONS: Patients with DMD are more sensitive to NMBAs with delayed onset times and prolonged recovery times. Precautions for DMD patients should include quantitative neuromuscular monitoring, electrocardiographic monitoring and rapid airway protection throughout anesthesia. Compared with general anesthesia, regional anesthesia may be a relatively safe option.