ObjectiveTo observe the curative effect of Lishui Xiaogu plaster combined with liver disease therapeutic apparatus on the treatment of refractory ascites due to hepatitis B cirrhosis. MethodA total of 120 cases of refractory ascites due to hepatitis B cirrhosis were randomly divided into a control group and an observation group， with 60 cases in each group. The control group was treated with conventional western medicine and DSG-Ⅲ liver disease therapeutic apparatus， and the observation group was externally applied with Lishui Xiaogu plaster in the liver area and abdomen based on the control group. After 4 weeks of continuous treatment， the weight， abdominal circumference， 24-hour urine volume， the quantitative score of clinical symptoms， liver function， serum endothelin-1 （ET-1）， nitric oxide （NO）， and interferon-γ （IFN-γ） before and after treatment were observed in the patients of two groups. ResultAfter 4 weeks of treatment， the total effective rate of the observation group was 87.72% （50/57）， higher than 67.9% （38/56） in the control group （P<0.05） （χ²=6.411， P<0.05）. The changes in abdominal circumference， body weight， and 24-hour urine volume in the two groups were better than those before treatment （P<0.05）. In terms of traditional Chinese medicine （TCM） clinical symptom scores， there was no significant difference in the symptoms of appetite， fatigue， sleep， and yellowing of the body and eyes in the control group before and after treatment， and other indexes in the two groups were better than those before treatment （P<0.05）. The observation group was better than the control group in improving symptoms such as abdominal distension， hypochondriac pain， appetite， fatigue， and lower limb edema （P<0.05）， but there was no significant difference between the two groups in improving sleep and yellowing of the body and eyes. In the experiment， the total bilirubin （TBIL）， alanine aminotransferase （ALT）， aspartate aminotransferase （AST）， albumin/globulin ratio （AGR）， ET-1， NO， and IFN-γ in the two groups were all better than those before treatment （P<0.05）. Except that there was no significant difference between the two groups of TBIL， other indexes in the observation group were better than those in the control group （P<0.05）. In terms of portal vein hemodynamics， the portal vein diameter （D_PV）， the maximum blood flow velocity （V_max）， and portal vein blood flow （Q） in the two groups improved after treatment， and the D_PV， V_max， and Q in the observation group were better than those in the control group （P<0.05）. ConclusionExternal application of Lishui Xiaogu plaster combined with liver disease therapeutic apparatus significantly improves the effective rate of refractory ascites due to hepatitis B cirrhosis， and its mechanism is presumedly related to the decreasing of serum NO and ET-1 levels， the increasing of serum IFN-γ level， and the improvement of portal hemodynamics.