Background Laparoscopic holmium laser lithotripsy (LHLL) has been used to treat bile duct stones with unclear outcomes. A meta-analysis was conducted to investigate the LHLL and laparoscopic bile duct exploration (LBDE) efficacy and safety in treating bile duct stones. Methods The correlational studies were searched databases, such as PubMed, Embase, Cochrane Library, Web of Science, CNKI, Wanfang, and VIP, to identify eligible studies from inception to July 2022. The dichotomous and continuous outcomes were evaluated using odds ratio (OR), risk difference (RD) and weighted mean difference (WMD) with 95% confidence intervals (CIs). Stata 15.0 and Review Manager 5.3 software helped in data analyses. Results A total of 23 studies with 1,890 patients, primarily from China, were included. The results indicated that operation time (WMD = -26.94; 95% CI:(-34.30, -19.58); P \ 0.00001), estimated blood loss (WMD = -17.97; 95% CI: (-22.94, -13.00); P = 0.002), rate of residual stone (OR = 0.15, 95%CI: (0.10, 0.23); P \ 0.00001), length of hospital stay (WMD = -2.88; 95% CI:(-3.80, -1.96); P \ 0.00001) and time to bowel function recovery (WMD = -0.59; 95% CI: (-0.76, -0.41); P \ 0.00001) had statistically significant differences between the two groups.