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Surgery is the definitive treatment option for symptomatic Chiari malformation I (CMI), but there is no clear consensus as to the preferred surgical method. This study aimed to quantitatively assess and compare the effect and safety of dura splitting decompression (DSD) and posterior fossa decompression with duraplasty (PFDD) in treating patients with CMI. A literature search of EMBASE, MEDLINE, PubMed, Cochrane Library, and Web of Science databases was conducted. References from January 1990 to September 2020 were retrieved. We only included papers containing original data, comparing the use of DSD and PFDD in CMI patients. Overall, 11 relevant studies were identified, wherein 443 patients treated for CMI by DSD were compared with 261 patients treated by PFDD. No difference was observed between PFDD and PFD in terms of clinical improvement (P = 0.69), syringomyelia improvement (P = 0.90), or reoperation (P = 0.22). DSD was associated with shorter operation durations (P = 0.0007), shorter length of stay (P = 0.0007), and shorter overall postoperative complications (P < 0.0001) (especially cerebrospinal fluid [CSF] leak P = 0.005], meningitis P = 0.002], and pseudomeningocele P = 0.002]), as compared with PFDD. This study confirmed that dura splitting decompression has clinical and syringomyelia improvement outcomes comparable to posterior fossa decompression with duraplasty. Compared with PFDD, DSD not only significantly shortened the operation time and length of stay, but also significantly reduced the overall complication rate, especially those related to incidence of CSF-related complications. More evidence from advanced multicenter studies are needed to require to validate the findings. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]