Introduction: The term cotero was coined socially and culturally in Colombia to define a population of workers who carry out the loading and unloading of merchandise and products in the markets and markets of the country. This population, of the informal economic sector, due to the rudimentary way in which it carries out the activities of its work, can present musculoskeletal symptoms due to the strong physical load and intensity required by the cotero activity. Objective: To identify musculoskeletal symptoms and related factors in workers with the trade of cotero. Materials and methods: A systematic review was carried out in which the search terms Risk Factors, Ergonomics, Musculoskeletal, Physical Effort and Occupational Health were used. The search was carried out in the databases (PubMed, Cochrane, Google Scholar and Scielo), in English, Spanish and Portuguese, published in the period 2009 - 2019, in full text. A total of 36 articles were included. Results: The most frequent musculoskeletal symptoms at the end of the working day of the coteros were: pain (65.7%), followed by fatigue (21.6%) and disconfor (14.2%). The prevalence of pain by segment was in the dorsal region of 76.9%, lumbar of 73.1%, neck of 50.0%, arms / forearms of 38.8%, shoulders of 33.6%, hands of 32, 1%, 24.6% elbows and 18.7% feet. Conclusions: The time in the cotero occupation is a determinant risk factor in the appearance of musculoskeletal symptoms, the studies showed excess weight of the loads manipulated by the coteros, which are between 25 kilos up to 160 kilos, and bipedestación for the total realization of the work
