Objective To systematically review the effectiveness and safety of hyperthermia (HT) plus intraperitoneal hyperthermic perfusion chemotherapy (IHPC) versus IHPC alone for malignant ascites. Methods Such databases as PubMed, The Cochrane Library, EMbase, VIP, WanFang, CNKI and CBM were electronically and comprehensively searched for randomized controlled trials (RCTs) on HT plus IHPC vs. IHPC alone for malignant ascites from inception to March 2013. Two reviewers independently screened studies according to inclusion and exclusion criteria, extracted data and assessed quality of the included studies. References of the included studies were also retrieved. Then, meta-analysis was performed using RevMan 5.1 software. Results A total of 16 RCTs involving 984 patients were included. The results of meta-analysis showed that, compared with the IHPC alone group, the HT plus IHPC group had a higher effective rate of controlling ascites (OR=3.40, 95%CI 2.58 to 4.48, Plt;0.000 01), better improvement in quality of life (OR=2.77, 95%CI 1.90 to 4.05, Plt;0.000 01), with significant differences. The two groups were alike in 1-year survival with no significant difference (OR=1.80, 95%CI 0.61 to 5.31, P=0.28). As for safety, there was no significant difference between the two groups in the incidences of nausea and vomiting, abdominal distension and pain, myelosuppression, diarrhea, and constipation. Conclusion The results of this systematic review show that, compared with IHPC alone, HT plus IHPC improves the effective rate as well as the quality of life of patients with malignant ascites, and it does not increase the incidences of adverse reactions. Due to the limited quality and quantity of the included studies, more high quality RCTs with larger sample size are needed to verify the above conclusion.