To investigate the efficacy of oral traditional Chinese herbal of combination disease and syndrome and umbilical compress with Xiaozhang Tie cataplasm in treating refractory ascites induced by liver cirrhosis. Methods： Eighty patients with cirrhosis and refractory ascites were randomly divided into two groups of equal size. The patients in control group were treated with primary therapy, while the test group took an oral traditional Chinese herbal of combination disease and syndrome and umbilical compress with Xiaozhang Tie cataplasm additionally. Efficacy was evaluated according to the criterion including ascites volume, body weight, abdominal circumference, urine 24-hour volume and major syndromes including abdominal distention, appetite, flatus and defecation. Results： Seventy-nine patients completed the study, 1 were withdrawn. The two groups were comparable on baseline. Both groups showed decreased body weight and abdominal circumference, increased urine volume and improved symptoms after treatment. However, the differences between pre-treatment and post-treatment in body weight, abdominal circumference, urine volume, abdominal distention, appetite and flatus were noticeably higher in the test group (n=39) than those in the control group (n=40). The effective rate of grade I and grade II was 52.5% for the test group and 25.0% for the control one (P<0.05). Conclusion： Traditional Chinese herbal of combination disease and syndrome and umbilical compress with Xiaozhang Tie cataplasm shows a remarkable adjuvant efficacy on refractory ascites induced by cirrhosis.