ObjectiveTo provide reference for major hospital operating room management in China by summarizing the main results from articles involving cancellation of elective operations. MethodsWe systematically searched PubMed, China National Knowledge Infrastructure, VIP and Wanfang databases up to January 31, 2016. The main results of eligible articles were described. ResultsA total of 37 articles were included, one of which was not included for further qualitative analysis due to low quality. The research type of included studies were retrospective studies and prospective studies accounting for 62.16% and 27.03%, respectively. The research object and rate of cancelled operation were varied among studies (0.15%-40.80%). The causes of cancellation were divided into hospital-related factors, staff-related factors and patient-related factors. ConclusionsThe cancellation of elective surgery is an important influence factor for the quality of healthcare. Identifying avoidable areas and proposing relative suggestions are aimed to decrease the rate of cancellation.