We searched Medline, Embase, Cochrane library, the Chinese Biomedicine Literature Database, the Chinese Scientific Journal Full-text Database, the Chinese Journal Full-text Database, and the Wanfang Database to collect observational studies on the effects of ovary-saving surgery in comparison to bilateral salpingo-oophorectomy (BSO) in young patients with early-stage endometrial cancer (EC). The literature search included studies up to March 2017, and 10 retrospective cohort studies met our selection criteria. Random and fixed effect models revealed that ovarian preservation (OP) was associated with better overall survival (OS) (hazard ratio [HR] 0.75, 95% confidence interval [CI] 0.57–0.99, P = 0.044), and was not associated with reduced recurrence-free survival (RFS) in pre-menopausal patients with early-stage endometrial cancer (HR 1.22, 95% CI 0.32–4.72, P = 0.648; risk ratio [RR] 1.11, 95% CI 0.59–2.10, P = 0.745). Preservation of the ovaries appears to be a safe option with significant benefit for this low risk population after a thorough preoperative evaluation and extensive intraoperative exploration.